COMMISSIONER OUTLINES HI-TECH FIGHTING PLANS

LAUDERHILL, Florida – Armed with a laundry list of upgrades, new technology and new methods of enforcement, Jamaican Acting Commissioner of Police, Owen Ellington presented the Diaspora with a detailed plan for combating violent and hi-tech organized crimes, as well as corruption in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

Ellington, who was addressing a town hall meeting at the Lauderhill City Hall on Tuesday, said Jamaica’s crime and security problems are not only socially generated, but are motivated by big bucks – leading to drugs and weapons smuggling and organized crime. He said while Jamaica has a high level of arrests, the country ranks low on incarceration for serious crimes. This has motivated him to reorder the JCF’s strategy, with the help of technology.

The commissioner said the JCF now has a sophisticated network, which enables them to have a centralized database system. This system has the data of people who are missing, deported or wanted, along with stolen vehicles, arrest records and other information for effective police work. According to Ellington, short of having a computer in the car, officers are able to function much like the ones in the South Florida and can access information in real time by contacting a control center. However, a concern raised in the question/answer segment pointed to the fact that many Jamaicans have no national identification and are not easily identified by asking questions – a problem the commissioner said the government has plans in place to address.

But the technology is not just geared to helping officers to work effectively; it is also there to keep them in line. For example, Ellington said the implementation of a geographic information system (GIS) can track every unit on the road at any time to ensure officers are where they are deployed to be and not “going to rum bars”. He said the GIS also helps with crime mapping, which is a way of showing areas where crimes are most concentrated. Included in the technology are smart cameras, which will be able to recognize faces of criminals in the database. The commissioner emphasized that all these systems were developed in Jamaica.

A long-standing problem in Jamaica has been the general mistrust of law enforcement, but Ellington said the JCF is working to regain the public’s confidence by tackling corruption within the force. He said they have already dismissed or disciplined officers who are found to be in violation. However, the commissioner said attention is also being given to boosting morale in the force and recruiting young, enthusiastic graduates from the University of the West Indies (UWI).

Communication both internally and externally, according to Ellington, has been an important addition to giving both members of the force and the general public information about how officers should conduct themselves in procedures and behavior and to prevent internal for-profit criminal activities.

Ellington cited a new method of ensuring that police officers are not using their own wrecking service companies to impound vehicles, because now, only authorized vehicles are allowed to transport such vehicles. And, officers can no longer use their mobile phones to call tow trucks either, since it is now required that they call the control center, which dispatches authorized wreckers.

Additionally, covert operations of videotaping corrupt officers have resulted in several resignations and other disciplinary actions since the new tactics have been in place, he said.

The Diaspora, Ellington said, could help by reporting activities in their communities that instigate crime and violence in Jamaica. He asked that people not be afraid of reporting crimes, since there are ways to do it anonymously. One way is through 1-800-CORRUPT. To that end, he also announced the new Diaspora liaison officer, James Forbes, who is available to the Diaspora at 876-920-8903.

The commissioner also asked that Jamaicans who purchase guns here be scrutinized more closely, since “80 percent of the guns in Jamaica are from the U.S.”

The consensus among attendees was that the plans sound encouraging, but several factors in Jamaica tend to undermine the attempts by the constabulary to stem crime. When asked about the long-standing link between political parties and garrison communities, Ellington said the JCF will not hesitate to arrest criminals, despite party affiliations, and have them tried through the courts. He added that they have an infallible witness protection program, which has never been breached, when witnesses adhered to the rules.

But as former Caribbean Bar Association President, Robert Vaughn, who introduced the commissioner, puts it, “Anything less than an all out assault on these criminal activities will prove futile.”