JCF Working to Change the Face of Policing – Commissioner Lewin

Police Commissioner, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, has said that efforts are being made to change the face of policing in Jamaica, to one where there is greater respect and partnership between the police and citizens.
“Where the police force is concerned we are working very hard to change the whole face of policing. We have not been placed over the communities or over citizens as some governors, but we are placed here to work with the communities and with the citizens to help the communities solve community problems,” he stated.
Commissioner Lewin was speaking to residents of Mansfield Heights, in St. Ann on Sunday (Sept. 27) at the official launch of a community safety and policing initiative in the area.
He urged the residents to work closely with the police to help bring about a positive change in their community, noting that the police was there to serve and protect.
“You have a chance to make your community into a model community. We are there to work with you. You are the eyes and ears of the police,” he said.
Officer in Charge of St. Ann, Superintendent Gary Griffith, said that the community policing efforts, which were intensified in the parish last year, have been working well, with officers able to reach a number of the young people through mentoring programmes.
In addition, the police has increased its presence in communities through patrols, the staging of health fairs, and assisting needy persons, including the elderly.
Superintendent Griffith told JIS News that this Friday (Oct. 2), officers will be engaged in refurbishing a home for an elderly citizen in Mansfield Heights.
“The command in St. Ann …pledges to continue these initiatives with a view to significantly improving the image of this community and by extension the entire parish,” he stated, while commending the officers.
The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), in March 2008, rolled out a community policing initiative targeted at troubled communities in the 19 police divisions across the island.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), John McLean, who heads the Community Safety and Security Branch of the JCF, explained at the time that the communities would be assigned trained, dedicated community policing officers, “who will see to the adherence of law and order in these communities while providing a visible, reassuring and problem-solving approach to policing.”
The initiative, he said, “is to make us move from a responsive and investigative style of policing to one which is more proactive and preventative.”