JCF Strengthened with Addition of 293 Constables

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has been strengthened with the addition of 293 constables who graduated from the National Police College of Jamaica (NPCJ), in St. Catherine, on August 17.

Some of the men and women are to be placed in the Public Safety and Traffic Management Branch (PSTEB) of the JCF.

The new branch, which will be a merger of the Traffic and Highway Patrol Division and the Motorised Patrol Division, was first announced by National Security Minister, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, during his Sectoral Debate presentation in the House of Representatives, on June 12.

Once the merger is completed, the PSTEB will have primary responsibility for public safety in town centres and major roadways, beginning with the Kingston Metropolitan Region and Montego Bay.

The PSTEB will include a roving motorcycle team to allow for rapid response in sufficient numbers; teams that concentrate primarily on breaches of public order that threaten citizen safety, such as vending outside of designated areas; and teams that focus on safety along the major thoroughfares.

Addressing the new constables at the passing out parade and awards ceremony at the NPCJ, State Minister for National Security, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, said that traffic management and public safety are of major concern to the Government.

“This is so because the use of visible traffic enforcement can have a positive effect on the overall public safety, including the reduction of vehicular crashes, criminal incidents and other forms of social harm,” he said.

Mr. Spencer said that the work of the new constables will be crucial in the fight against crime and for Jamaica to achieve its quest of developed nation status by 2030.

He urged them to “be ambassadors of the JCF every hour of every day, even when not on duty” and for them to “demonstrate that it is a career of choice.”

“We expect you, as the newest officers, to be agents of change that Jamaicans want to see in the police service,” he said.

The men and women, as part of their instructions, resided and received training at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI).

This is part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by then Minister of National Security, Hon. Robert Montague; Deputy Commissioner of the JCF, Clifford Blake, and then Principal of the UWI, Mona Campus, Professor Archibald McDonald, on August 17 last year.

For her part, Registrar of the UWI, Camille Bell-Hutchinson, expressed pleasure that the university could partner with the National Security Ministry and the JCF to facilitate new recruits and “hopes that the first cohort would have benefitted.”

Several trophies were handed to the outstanding men and women who performed well during their nine months of training.

Among them are Woman Constable Crystol Hall, for Best All Round Performance; Woman Constable Kenecia Morris, for Highest Mark Obtained, and Constable Steve Tyndale, for Best Leadership Qualities.