JOCC Commences Operations

The Joint Operations Co-ordination Centre (JOCC) commenced operations on March 1, as required by the master security plan for the staging of the ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007.
According to Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Owen Ellington, Chair of the Security Committee for the ICC CWC 2007, the centre began operating on a “very low scale”, as some of the participating teams had started to arrive in the country on that date.
“The JOCC had to see to the execution of the early stages of the mobilization plan, deployment of resources, meet and greet at the airport and the transfer of teams to hotel and the assignment of protective detail for all of the teams,” he disclosed to JIS News.
Mr. Ellington informed that as the ICC CWC 2007 moved further into tournament mode, the JOCC would be monitoring activities, not just in terms of meet and greet and the movement of teams, but also the activities taking place at match venues – Sabina Park and the Trelawny multipurpose stadium.
Explaining the role of the JOCC, he said it was a management structure within the hierarchy of the CWC security operations.
“JOCC is really nothing new for us. We have used this concept of operations when we manage major events, such as a general election or when we are responding to natural disasters, such as a hurricane,” he said. “It sits parallel with the National Emergency Operation Centre, which manages disasters but, we do the operational side of things, meaning we deploy resources in support of national operations or where we are the lead agency, we co-ordinate the deployment of resources outside of the JOCC,” ACP Ellington added.
He pointed out that in the event of a disaster or an emergency related situation, the JOCC would play a supporting role under normal circumstances, providing manpower, transportation, communication, logistics, guarding assets and providing escort, among other support. However, in the case of the ICC CWC 2007, which involves the deployment of assets from across a number of agencies, the JOCC has primacy in terms of its role over other entities.
The JOCC is located at the Office of the Commissioner of Police on Old Hope Road. “We will have representatives from all the lead agencies involved in the execution of tournament security, like the police, military, fire brigade, traffic and intelligence,” he pointed out.
“If we should have a major situation, for example involving foreign nationals or anything impacting on the tournament, we will use a call out format to get other relevant agencies into the fold to assist us in co-ordinating the response to those situations,” ACP Ellington added.
The JOCC will operate for the duration of the tournament. However, during the Super 8 stage, which will be held elsewhere in the region, there will be a reduction in its activities. “We will scale down to the level that we are now, but when we have any other event, such as the semi-final, we are going to increase presence in the JOCC, so that we have full capacity to manage anything out there,” he noted.