Daraine Luton, Staff Reporter

Superintendent Norman Heywood - File

THE police force needs to rid itself of some officers as a part of the force's modernisation drive, Superintendent Norman Heywood believes.

"We need to really weed out some members," Supt. Heywood, the man leading the implementation of the new corporate strategy tells The Sunday Gleaner.

"There are a lot of people at the top of the organisation who still don't embrace community policing as the way forward, simply because they are used to doing things a particular way," Supt. Heywood says. "They don't understand the concept and they don't take time out to understand (it). We have to get rid of them and bring in a new set of officers with a new set of thinking," he says.

The new corporate strategy ,which started in 2005 and ends in 2008, has among its aims, to move the force away from the reactive style of policing that has characterised the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and, instead, move toward embracing a proactive form of policing with emphasis on accountability, and which is based on genuine partnership with the public.

Recruiting strategy

In trying to achieve these goals, the JCF has revamped their recruiting strategy an people can still walk in off the street, sit a test and apply to be a police officer, they are required to fill out a more detailed application form which allows the police to do more antecedent checks.

However, Supt. Heywood, while being confident that this is a step in the right direction, says issues such as salary and working conditions must be addressed. "If the JCF wants to attract the brightest and the best, we have to think about compensation and we have to think about a minimum standard for police establishments," he argues.

Noting that people often leave the force for better-paid jobs after they have advanced themselves academically, Supt. Heywood believes that more attention must be paid to not only attracting bright, honest and competent people, but also to retaining them.

"Some of the people who are leaving are not the people who you want to leave. Those are some of the brighter people ... Some of the people who should leave are not going anywhere," he adds.

The JCF embarked on this massive modernisation programme in 1998, seemingly an admission that it is not a totally friendly service organisation. With months to go before this corporate strategy ends, Supt. Heywood has admitted that the much-desired culture change within the 140-year-old force may not take place anytime soon.

"We really have some more time to go," he acknowledges. "I am looking at some five to 10 years of culturalisation and resocialisation of our police officers. We need to look at the training institution and start from there with the whole philosophy of respect."

He adds: "It is difficult to get that culture into some persons, especially if they grew up in the old system and don't know any other form of policing."

When the JCF was established in 1867, two years after the infamous Morant Bay Rebellion, it had a para-military focus. Heavily dependent on force, the JCF was born out of the need to protect the plantocracy, and this culture has been passed down, especially through the training programme. Dr. Anthony Harriott, in his book Police and Crime Control in Jamaica, argues that "the behaviours of the police are shaped largely by the socio-political context in which they operate".

Respect human rights

For human rights advocates, there is an overwhelming need for the police to respect the rights of people when they operate. Marian Carla Gullotta, Amnesty International's representative in Jamaica, wants the rights body to be a part of the training programme for recruits to the JCF.

"Respecting peoples rights is very important and we would love to see a change in the culture of the way police operate," Ms. Gullotta says.

The last opinion poll conducted about the police found that the perception of the public towards the police was not flattering. Pollster Bill Johnson, in January found that 54.9 per cent of Jamaicans believed the police force to be corrupt.