PCOA Introduces TOP CIB Award for 2026 Transforming Our Police Service Competition

The Police Civilian Oversight Authority (PCOA) has introduced the TOP Criminal Investigations Branch (CIB) Award as a new category for its 2026 Transforming Our Police Service (TOPS) Competition.

The award will recognise the best CIB within the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s (JCF) Area 4, which is the focus of this year’s competition.
Area 4 covers 31 police stations across Kingston and St. Andrew through five police divisions – St. Andrew Central, St. Andrew South, Kingston Eastern, Kingston Central and Kingston Western.

Speaking at a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank on September 10, Chief Executive Officer of the PCOA, Otarah Byfield Nugent, indicated that the category was introduced after receiving positive feedback from last year’s participants.

“What we try to do each year is to have something innovative, something new. We listen to the feedback, and an assessment is done on the award ceremony, and we try to come up with a new award or a new concept. What’s new this year for TOPS is that we have a new award for the CIB of the JCF,” she said.

“Officers want us to spread our wings in terms of those who benefit from the competition and that TOPS is not just about stations and assessment of the stations, but the broad objectives and operations of the JCF. We decided to choose CIB this year because CIB provides a very important service to Jamaica in terms of investigating and solving crimes,” she added.

She noted that an assessment will be done of CIB operations across Area 4 and the top CIB station or division awarded.

The PCOA CEO explained that there will be no Top Marine Outpost Award for this competition cycle as no outpost location exists within Area 4.

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Kingston in November, which will be live-streamed and aired during a live radio broadcast.

The PCOA TOPS Competition, now in its 8th staging, continues to be a vital mechanism for encouraging professionalism, accountability, and service excellence within the police force.

Developed in 2019, the TOPS programme is aimed at fostering greater conformity with prescribed JCF policies as well as raise morale among police personnel.