JCF Must Adhere to Core Functions – Senator MacMillan

Minister of National Security, Senator Colonel Trevor MacMillan has expressed the view that the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), must adhere to its core business of enforcing law and order.
“Simultaneously, the modernisation programme, developed on the basis of some 124 recommendations of the recently concluded strategic review of the JCF, will be systematically implemented. One of the most important recommendations by the review panel is changing the culture of the Force,” Senator Colonel MacMillan said during his contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Senate on Friday (Jan. 23).
He explained that the review panel believes that the culture of the Force is severely hampering its effectiveness but was aware that changing the culture of the JCF will take time.
“It won’t happen overnight, but if we start to work on it from now, in due course we will see changes in the attitude of the members of the force. Our international development partners have indicated a willingness to support the JCF in this regard,” the Security Minister said.
Senator MacMillan also said another recommendation is for the ‘civilianisation’ of the JCF. This will enable the JCF to re-deploy police officers from administrative functions to core operational duties.
“For example, ten civilians have been employed to work with the Crime Stop Unit. When these recommendations are implemented, significant changes to the size, structure, capacity and operation of the Force would have been achieved,” he explained.