Jamaicans Encouraged to Use PCOA Online Complaint Portal

Jamaicans are being encouraged to use the Police Civilian Oversight Authority’s (PCOA) online complaint portal to report concerns about police performance and conduct.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PCOA, Otarah Byfield Nugent, said the portal provides citizens with an accessible and confidential avenue to report issues involving members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), as well as to commend officers who provide positive service.

“The complaints portal is online. You can find that on our website www.pcoa.gov.jm. What it allows for is an easier way for citizens to report issues as it relates to police conduct and also commend officers if you might have a positive interaction on the road or at a station,” she said.

Mrs. Byfield Nugent was speaking during a recent Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank.

She said the portal is an important avenue through which citizens can exercise their right to raise concerns about police performance.

“What we have found is that over time we have received an increased number of complaints some five to 10 per month. So, we try to address those and to get some sort of closure to those issues,” she added.

Mrs. Byfield-Nugent pointed out that the complaints vary, noting that “a key area that we are finding, or issue we are finding, is one that speaks to noise nuisance that people tend to complain a lot about”.

She urged persons experiencing these or other concerns relating to police performance or conduct, to bring it to the Authority’s attention.

“So, it is very important that if you have these issues, that you go online and you make your complaints and we look at them,” she said.

Mrs. Byfield-Nugent reminded the public that making a complaint to the PCOA is a right provided under the PCOA Act.

“Don’t hesitate. It’s your right under the PCOA Act. We have a right to receive representation from the public in terms of police performance and police conduct, and that is a way of doing that,” she said.

She emphasised that no concern should be considered too minor to report, noting that public feedback is important to strengthening the relationship between citizens and the police.

“No matter how simple the matter is, at the end of the day, we want to ensure that we build the credibility of the JCF, that we build a partnership between citizens and community, and that’s an important way of doing it,” she said.

Mrs. Byfield Nugent said the information received through the complaints process helps the Authority to better understand the concerns of citizens and identify ways of addressing them.