TREVOR MACMILLAN AND THE JAMAICA CONSTABULARY FORCE, 1994

No-nonsense approach to law and order

ON TUESDAY, March 28, 1994 former Police Commissioner Colonel Trevor MacMillan and the Jamaica Constabulary Force won the Gleaner's Honour Award for 1994.

Colonel MacMillan won the award in recognition of the improved performance of the police force and renewed respect from Jamaicans. His no-nonsense approach to law and order and leadership at the time dramatically transformed the Police Force when he took over in 1993, sometimes tested the patience and anger of veteran officers in the force at the time but he would not relent in his strive for excellence in the Force.

The Former Police Commissioner has had a long history serving Jamaica's security institutions. He served 27 years in the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), then moved to head the Revenue Protection Division and later became the first civilian to be named police commissioner.

The Government, under pressure to provide an effective Police Force, elevated Col. MacMillan to police commissioner in 1993. He was given the responsibility of bringing back respectability to the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), an institution that was perceived to be in crisis; largely seen as corrupt, unprofessional, and slow to respond to the needs of the wider society.

He began a process of removing corrupt police officers from the organisation. Many were returned to uniform, taken off front-line duties and investigated for corruption. Some of those officers suspected of illegal activities or facilitators of illegal activities were transferred to a specially created unit, popularly known as 'Never, Never, Land', and given no effective functions. Col. MacMillan quickly moved from most popular to controversial.