Constable Savage-Dallas to Receive National Award for Loyal Service

District Constable, Patricia Savage-Dallas, will be one of several Jamaicans to receive national honours and awards at King’s House on Heroes Day, October 15.

She will receive the Badge of Honour for 35 years of loyal and meritorious service to the St Andrew North Division as a District Constable.

The Badge of Honour is awarded to persons who have rendered loyal and meritorious service beneficial to Jamaica.

Constable Savage-Dallas tells JIS News that she was very happy when she found out that she will be receiving the award.

“I’m proud and happy because I have seen what I have gained and what I have gotten for my years as a District Constable,” she says.

The District Constable said she learnt of the award after Independence Day, August 6.

“I did not realise or know that it was published on August 6, so I learnt about it about three weeks after. I feel so happy to receive it, knowing that for 36 years I have been working as a District Constable in the Gordon Town area,” she adds.

District Constables now fall under the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), following passage of the Civil Service Establishment (General Order) 2017 in Parliament, which has resulted in District Constables being placed on the government establishment.

Constable Savage-Dallas tells JIS News that she joined the organisation on September 27, 1982. She recalls going to the police station to visit her grandmother who was working there at the time, when she was told by a retired Inspector that a vacancy existed for a woman District Constable.

Constable Savage-Dallas says she submitted her documents and waited for over a year before receiving a call from a police officer saying that she should report for duty.

“At that time we did not get any training, you just had to go and sit and learn from other personnel on the job,” she notes.

During her decades of work, Constable Savage-Dallas has performed station guard duties, assisted prisoners in custody at the station, responded to calls relating to criminal activities and participated in community patrolling and policing in Gordon Town, St Andrew.

The long-serving Constable was a leader of the Gordon Town Police Youth Club during the 1990s and participated in seminars and on-the-job training at the Constant Spring Police Station. Over the years, she has never been brought before a court or charged for any offence, complaints or negligence of duty while serving.

Because of her supportive character, Constable Savage-Dallas said she would often help sick prisoners in custody at the station.

“I try to help each and every person that comes my way, and I have gained a lot of respect from that. Call on Miss Savage and I am there. Call me at any time in the night, I am there,” she says, adding that she would always receive warm greetings from persons with whom she had interacted while on duty at the station.

“If I had treated those persons bad, they would not see me and greet me the way they do,” she adds.

For the past nine years, Constable Savage-Dallas has been working at the office of the United District Constables Association, which arbitrates for the rights and welfare of District Constables.

“It has been going good. Persons who need assistance would call me and come in. From time to time you would get new members coming in who do not know about the Association and I would tell them,” she says.

Constable Savage-Dallas tells JIS News that she spends a lot of time at her church, and on special occasions would offer her services at the Gordon Town Police Station.

Although not a counsellor, she loves to share her experiences with new recruits and give advice to young people in her community.