KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC—Prime Minister Andrew Holness warned Tuesday that Jamaica has a deeper problem of organized violence in society and that the solution does not lie solely with the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).
“We have something called in Jamaica organized violence. You cannot organize crime, and there is no violence. Our organized criminals choose to use violence even when it is not necessary, and so you just can’t merely say the response of the police breaches human rights (and) criticize the police in unfair and unjust ways.
“I am not here saying that the police do not have a higher duty to maintain and protect human rights. What I am saying is that we have a deeper problem of organized violence and even domestic unorganized violence in society”.
He said the solution is in more than just the JCF. The solution is what we are doing in our schools and in the justice system to promote conflict resolution and mediation, and we are currently doing all of those things.
‘But what are we doing again with the legal system to target gangs that produce violence? We have been doing that. So the strategy is comprehensive, a comprehensive strategy,” Holness said as he delivered the keynote address at the contract signing ceremony of St. Catherine Divisional Headquarters.
In February, during the budget, the government said it had budgeted nearly two billion dollars One Jamaica dollar=US$0.008 cents) to carry out vital infrastructural works in the upcoming fiscal year to improve several facilities for members of the JCF. Watch video
Of the total, J$882 million has been earmarked for the new police divisional headquarters to be constructed in Westmoreland, J$50 million to continue works on the Forensic Pathology Autopsy Suite, and J$990 million for the construction of the St. Catherine North Police Divisional Headquarters.
Holness told the ceremony that if you are going to build an institution, the first place you would want to start is with the leadership, noting, “You have to develop a doctrine, a culture, and since 2016 (when his administration came to office), we have done, I would say, a spectacular job in transforming the culture, doctrine, and leadership of the JCF. Watch video
“Without question, the officer core of the JCF stands head and shoulder and several inches above the rest in the region,” Holness said, adding, “When you look at the talent pool that exists in the JCF across several fields, it is fantastic.
“That leadership core will permeate the organization, rank, and file. It is going to take time. I am not here telling you that every single officer you meet is imbued with this sense of leadership and responsibility and defends the highest integrity of the organization.
‘There are some people in the JCF who should not be there, but I am certain that the leadership is working through a process to filter them out and to bring in persons who fit and match the organizational ideology doctrine”.
Holness said this is being done in the recruitment process, and he receives a report on it every month.
He said the report received is not from the police commissioner but from the Major Organised Crime & Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA), which includes details of the filtering process of the technology being used, such as polygraph testing.
He said all the people joining the JCF and those promoted “go through an intensive process of polygraphing,” adding that the authorities have established a national security council to monitor this “broad approach to national security.”
He said the government will shortly present a National Security Act that “looks at security from a comprehensive point of view.
‘So we look at security from Customs, we look at security from the anti-corruption perspective, we look at security from cyber, we look at security from telecommunication, we look at security from finance, all elements that could threaten the safety and security of the state…and that is how we manage plane security of Jamaica,” Holdness said.
Prime Minister Holness urged criminals to surrender their weapons during his address because the police would get them.
“My advice to the criminals is just leave. Just put down your gun and leave because the police are going to get you, one by one, two by two, and I am certain you are going to hear four and five. You are doing it lawfully, protecting the innocent while ensuring that we bring those who are breaking the law…who are organizing violence, we bring them before the courts”.
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