JCF Improving Efficiencies

Minister of National Security, Hon. Peter Bunting, said the leadership of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), has embarked on several initiatives to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

These involve increasing training, better use of technology, internal restructuring and continuous upgrading of technical proficiencies.

Minister Bunting, who was making his contribution to the 2012/13 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on July 18, said the move is out of recognition of the need to restructure the organisation to deal with the evolving nature of crime and to enhance responsiveness of the police, especially in high crime and complex divisions.

He informed that institutions have been established such as the Headquarters Command and Control Team (HCCT), which is responsible for executing planned and unplanned operations at nights.

He said that there is increased focus on improving management by conducting major reviews, and revamping and establishing major policies including review of the Major Scenes of Crime Policy and the establishment of the Violence Attribution and Assessment Policy 2011.

Mr. Bunting said that Prosecution Liaison Officers (PLOs) will be appointed to attend courts to free up detectives to focus on police work.

In addition, various divisions and units will be established with specific mandates to strengthen the overall investigative capacity of the force. These include the Transnational Crimes and Narcotics Division (TCND), Street Crimes Unit (SCU), and the Communications Forensic and Cyber-Crimes Unit.

Mr. Bunting said that the centralisation of monitoring, evaluation and research initiatives is another key component. “The institution of the performance review and work plans management system is aimed at streamlining all work plans and the implementation of a robust performance review management system, to enable monthly and quarterly tracking of performance against targets,” he said

He noted that the strengthening of partnership with local and international research centres and universities to increase police training and to strengthen the intelligence architecture is also critical.

By Chris Patterson, JIS Reporter