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Is a foreign commissioner coming?
Mark Wignall
Thursday, October 18, 2007
WHEN the members of the Police Services Commission meet, pore through the applications the PSC has received from those seeking the widely advertised job of commissioner of police and eventually make a burdensome and potentially explosive decision, the PSC will opt for a person riding on a scale somewhere between two extremes.
At one end, it will opt for one of the senior officers in the force with many years of experience and capabilities but with the 'squaddie syndrome', 'career' and the preservation of the 'brotherhood' as his or her main focus. At the other end it could give the job to a white-skinned officer from either Canada or Britain.
Somewhere in between both extremes lies the ideal candidate.
Let's begin with the Caucasian foreigner. If the PSC wants chaos to reign inside the JCF, all it has to do is go that route. It is known that the Jamaican police force is peopled by many who are demotivated, underpaid and just going through the motions. With one of the highest rates of murder in the world, most Jamaican police officers have come to the conclusion, long ago, that they are being asked to solve a crime problem when in fact the society as it is made up now is highly dysfunctional. To these members of the force the problem has to be dealt with at the political level. The political leadership, they believe, needs to step in and approach police matters with an understanding that it is political leadership omissions over the last 40 years which has brought us to this sorry state.
The typical policeman operating in Jamaica has one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. A jeep-load of policemen patrolling an inner-city area at night makes an easy target for the urban terrorist gunmen who have already declared that they have little to live for. Most of the policemen are scared but in that macho brotherhood fear is usually translated into brutality against ghetto residents whom they see as protective of the young killers in these communities.
If that white-skinned foreigner is appointed to the post, his first reality check will be the fact that he does not resemble 99.99% of the men and women under his command - in ethnicity and social antecedents. His appointment will be a stillbirth.
Many reports have been done on the JCF, and almost all of them have concluded that the senior officers who ran the course from beat duty cop to ACP or DCP carried with them all of the baggage learned during their time climbing the ladder. When Commissioner Lucius Thomas took the top post two years ago he created quite a controversy when he came out stridently in describing corruption inside the police force.
When Commissioner Thomas made that speech, I read it as a cry for help. The political directorate operating then listened, made sotto voce comments and afterwards had a big yawn. Many have criticised Thomas for not delivering on his big noise, but the fact is he received little support from the government of the day.
What could Thomas do when he has no power to fire a constable or a corporal? Thomas' general revelations on police corruption was an appeal to the political directorate to make meaningful change. At the time the PNP administration was in its most rabid predatory phase of its run from 1989, therefore, the commissioner's 'rantings' became the tenth day of a nine-day wonder. The PNP was simply not interested.
The problem facing me as a citizen who wants to be satisfied that we have made the correct decisions in our appointment of the next commissioner is my belief that at this time, we need to bring in someone from outside to introduce fresh ideas and innovative means of raising the morale of the force. The appointment of a senior officer in the JCF would present the force with a brief 'feel-good' period, after which we would settle back down with the old, tried and tested rot.
There are senior policemen in the JCF who have links with gunmen and those involved in the movement and trade of illicit hard drugs. There are senior policemen in the force who are more taken up with their security companies than they are with effecting their duties as paid agents of the state. The real sad part is that whenever I sit and have a chat with such an officer I am forced to ask myself what I would do were I to walk a mile in his shoes. The answer is not one that pleases me.
Too often the esprit de corps displayed, which is the ideal of any entity like the JCF, is nothing more than one policeman congratulating another after two or three gunmen have been shot dead by the 'squaddies'. I get the impression that the mindset of those in the senior ranks of the JCF is protecting their backs and those close to them. Taken to its full extent, the JCF exists to protect the members of the JCF. At a local level I can appreciate that view, but to the man and woman in the street, the country's security is much more important than a policeman 'working' to protect his pension.
I would advise the senior officers in the police force to take cognisance of the fact that another world exists outside of their myopic view that 'outsiders' will not be welcome. In this regard someone from the PSC and the political directorate will need to begin a super marketing effort to sell an 'outsider' to the force.
A new paradigm in approaching management of the force must begin now. In that understanding, those senior officers who are adequately qualified for the job must step back and painfully assess the bigger picture.
Based on where I believe the present JLP administration is headed in terms of dealing with the crime monster, a solid manager with strength to make demands, loudly if necessary, is the candidate being sought.
The PSC operates outside of the influence of the political directorate. That we are told is the theory.
There is, I believe, a stronger reality and as a result of that pressing demand for a new dawning it is my belief than an outsider will be appointed as the new commissioner.
One who looks like us but who doesn't share the rot of too many of us who see 'a likkle tiefing' and corruption as no big thing.
observemark@gmail.
Mark Wignall
Thursday, October 18, 2007
WHEN the members of the Police Services Commission meet, pore through the applications the PSC has received from those seeking the widely advertised job of commissioner of police and eventually make a burdensome and potentially explosive decision, the PSC will opt for a person riding on a scale somewhere between two extremes.
At one end, it will opt for one of the senior officers in the force with many years of experience and capabilities but with the 'squaddie syndrome', 'career' and the preservation of the 'brotherhood' as his or her main focus. At the other end it could give the job to a white-skinned officer from either Canada or Britain.
Somewhere in between both extremes lies the ideal candidate.
Let's begin with the Caucasian foreigner. If the PSC wants chaos to reign inside the JCF, all it has to do is go that route. It is known that the Jamaican police force is peopled by many who are demotivated, underpaid and just going through the motions. With one of the highest rates of murder in the world, most Jamaican police officers have come to the conclusion, long ago, that they are being asked to solve a crime problem when in fact the society as it is made up now is highly dysfunctional. To these members of the force the problem has to be dealt with at the political level. The political leadership, they believe, needs to step in and approach police matters with an understanding that it is political leadership omissions over the last 40 years which has brought us to this sorry state.
The typical policeman operating in Jamaica has one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. A jeep-load of policemen patrolling an inner-city area at night makes an easy target for the urban terrorist gunmen who have already declared that they have little to live for. Most of the policemen are scared but in that macho brotherhood fear is usually translated into brutality against ghetto residents whom they see as protective of the young killers in these communities.
If that white-skinned foreigner is appointed to the post, his first reality check will be the fact that he does not resemble 99.99% of the men and women under his command - in ethnicity and social antecedents. His appointment will be a stillbirth.
Many reports have been done on the JCF, and almost all of them have concluded that the senior officers who ran the course from beat duty cop to ACP or DCP carried with them all of the baggage learned during their time climbing the ladder. When Commissioner Lucius Thomas took the top post two years ago he created quite a controversy when he came out stridently in describing corruption inside the police force.
When Commissioner Thomas made that speech, I read it as a cry for help. The political directorate operating then listened, made sotto voce comments and afterwards had a big yawn. Many have criticised Thomas for not delivering on his big noise, but the fact is he received little support from the government of the day.
What could Thomas do when he has no power to fire a constable or a corporal? Thomas' general revelations on police corruption was an appeal to the political directorate to make meaningful change. At the time the PNP administration was in its most rabid predatory phase of its run from 1989, therefore, the commissioner's 'rantings' became the tenth day of a nine-day wonder. The PNP was simply not interested.
The problem facing me as a citizen who wants to be satisfied that we have made the correct decisions in our appointment of the next commissioner is my belief that at this time, we need to bring in someone from outside to introduce fresh ideas and innovative means of raising the morale of the force. The appointment of a senior officer in the JCF would present the force with a brief 'feel-good' period, after which we would settle back down with the old, tried and tested rot.
There are senior policemen in the JCF who have links with gunmen and those involved in the movement and trade of illicit hard drugs. There are senior policemen in the force who are more taken up with their security companies than they are with effecting their duties as paid agents of the state. The real sad part is that whenever I sit and have a chat with such an officer I am forced to ask myself what I would do were I to walk a mile in his shoes. The answer is not one that pleases me.
Too often the esprit de corps displayed, which is the ideal of any entity like the JCF, is nothing more than one policeman congratulating another after two or three gunmen have been shot dead by the 'squaddies'. I get the impression that the mindset of those in the senior ranks of the JCF is protecting their backs and those close to them. Taken to its full extent, the JCF exists to protect the members of the JCF. At a local level I can appreciate that view, but to the man and woman in the street, the country's security is much more important than a policeman 'working' to protect his pension.
I would advise the senior officers in the police force to take cognisance of the fact that another world exists outside of their myopic view that 'outsiders' will not be welcome. In this regard someone from the PSC and the political directorate will need to begin a super marketing effort to sell an 'outsider' to the force.
A new paradigm in approaching management of the force must begin now. In that understanding, those senior officers who are adequately qualified for the job must step back and painfully assess the bigger picture.
Based on where I believe the present JLP administration is headed in terms of dealing with the crime monster, a solid manager with strength to make demands, loudly if necessary, is the candidate being sought.
The PSC operates outside of the influence of the political directorate. That we are told is the theory.
There is, I believe, a stronger reality and as a result of that pressing demand for a new dawning it is my belief than an outsider will be appointed as the new commissioner.
One who looks like us but who doesn't share the rot of too many of us who see 'a likkle tiefing' and corruption as no big thing.
observemark@gmail.
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