Mark Beckford, Gleaner Writer
Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas (centre) is in discussion with Derrick Smith (right), Opposition spokesman on national security, and Dr. Peter Phillips, Minister of National Security, before the start of the Police Officers' Association annual general meeting held at the Hilton Kingston hotel, New Kingston, yesterday. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
IN HIS final address to the Police Officers' Association as chairman, Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Leon Rose yesterday raised several issues regarding the security of the nation and the Jamaica Constabu-lary Force (JCF).
In a rousing speech at the association's annual general meeting at the Hilton Kingston hotel, in New Kingston, ACP Rose tackled the issues of contracts and policing the society. He lambasted sections of the society who aimed criticism at the force without considering the challenges the JCF had to negotiate each day. ACP Rose said that, under a state of lawlessness and blatant disregard for law, many are using the police force as a scapegoat for society's ills.
BERATED
"On a daily basis we are being berated for lack of capacity, resolve, fortitude ... and being brutal in our approach of policing," he said. ACP Rose called for the relevant authorities in the land to equip the police who he believes are ill-prepared and undermanned to tackle an intricate criminal network.
"The policy-makers must be proactive in looking at the local and international dynamics of governance as it relates to human resource, capacity building and development of its various agencies which support the State," he said.
ACP Rose added that the force should be resource-driven and that it was not the duty of the JCF to provide these resources. He also seconded Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas' call for more resources and effective legislation to cripple the criminal onslaught.
ACP Rose was applauded by colleagues when he spoke to the inequity perceived by local officers regarding the contracts being offered to members as a prelude to promotion to the commissioner's rank.
He said the contracts being offered to local police are inconsistent with those being offered to their foreign counterparts.
"On examination of the terms and conditions that are being proposed for local officers vis-a-vis those offered to our foreign colleagues, [this] speaks to a disparity unprecedented in the history of modern times," he declared.
He claimed the contracts are inadequate for addressing training, development and the resources needed for local officers to achieve intended targets. He implored the incoming executive to fight for the rights of the local police to ensure that there are no prejudices regarding contracts, as individual contracts would undermine the core of the organisation.
