Minister Montague Pledges Full Support To New Police Commissioner

Minister of National Security, Hon. Robert Montague, says the Ministry stands ready to support the programmes that will be executed by the newly appointed Commissioner of Police, Major General Antony Anderson.

“All of Jamaica expects the Commissioner to do well and to succeed, and the Ministry of National Security is standing by to offer policy support and the resources as soon as he has done his briefings and come together with his programmes,” he said.

Mr. Montague was speaking to JIS News following a courtesy call by the Police Commissioner at the Ministry in St. Andrew on March 20.

“We will continue to have dialogue to make sure that the Government provides the necessary tools and resources that are needed to do the job,” he added, noting that gangs, guns, cybercrime, murders and the maintenance of public order are main areas of priority.

For his part, Major Anderson told JIS News that his vision for the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is that it will be repositioned as the most trusted and credible organisation in the country.

He said this will be undertaken “largely by how we do our business every day, how we interact with the public, how we treat with our internal issues and how we focus on some of our key problems in the country”.

He said that public support remains a critical component in crime-fighting efforts, adding that areas relating to corruption, among others, “will be treated with in a very direct way”.

“The public is involved, as they are usually the victims of crime, and so it is in their interest and the interest of everyone that we work together on these problems. The public, I have found, is always willing to support if you can provide a mechanism for them, a means to report things, a means to do it safely and that you build up trust, because the greater the trust is the more likely the public will support what you do,” he told JIS News.

The new Commissioner, who took office on Monday (March 19), replaces George Quallo, who retired earlier this year.