Commissioner of Police Stresses Importance of Having an Action Plan

Commissioner of Police, Major General Antony Anderson says commanders across the island, are required to submit an action plan to be approved by a Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) panel before any community intervention can take place.

“If you go into something, anything, without having a plan…what are the chances for success? Often it is doomed from the start,” Major General Anderson said at a townhall meeting held at the Montego Bay Civic Centre in St. James on February 9.

The Commissioner referenced Salt Spring, in St. James, as an example of a successful intervention by the police.

“Let’s look at Salt Spring here in St. James where Senior Superintendent Vernon Ellis had an intervention plan. If you are talking about a transformational relationship between the police and a community, that is probably the greatest example of it,” he stated.

“It wasn’t just a case of showing up one day in Salt Spring…. Mr. Ellis had to craft a plan that a JCF panel scrutinized to ensure it was workable,” he added.

The Commissioner said as a result, the police were able to convince residents to work with the security forces to build a safer community

“It’s all about getting the support of the communities. The goal is for the criminal element to realize that there is no haven…nowhere to go to carry out their criminal activities,” Major General Anderson stated.

“The commander had to come to headquarters and had to present a plan. He had to present a plan for intelligence and how he was going to get it and manage it. He had to present a plan about investigations and how he was going to conduct those investigations to get the results that he wants. He had to present a plan on how he was going to use and share information with the community,” he added.

The Commissioner said that out of the Salt Spring initiative, the JCF has been replicating the strategy islandwide.

Major General Anderson said he was encouraged by the response of communities across the island, “especially those that were considered hard to reach”.

“We have reason to be very optimistic for 2023. We were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but we are getting there. The strategy of intervention is that we must know what we are doing. We must be seen as friends…as protectors of communities,” he stated.