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Ads placed abroad for senior cops
Observer Reporter
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Jamaica has begun advertising internationally for four assistant commissioners of police, having apparently failed in its effort at direct recruitment for more foreigners as part of its reform of the constabulary.
Government sources said yesterday that ads began appearing in newspapers in Britain, Australia, Canada and the United States for the senior cops, who, if they can be found, will join Mark Shields, the former Scotland Yard policeman, in the senior ranks of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).
Shields, who is deputy commissioner in charge of the crime portfolio, joined the JCF in March and his recruitment is being pointed to in the ads as part of the constabulary's effort at modernisation and its aim to "increase the momentum of change and to improve the effectiveness and efficiency" of the police force.
The advertisements invite applications from serving or retired officers who have held senior command positions at the levels of assistant chief constable and chief superintendent in Britain, or equivalent ranks in the United States, Canada or Australia.
"These officers will have proven leadership and management skills at a strategic level and must be equipped with the inter-personal and communications skills to adapt to policing in Jamaica," the ads say.
The applications must be sent in to Charles Jones, the chief personnel officer at the Services Commission, by July 15.
The salary packages which go with the posts are not disclosed.
With the country's high crime rate, including more than 1,000 homicides a year, Jamaica's 10,000-member constabulary developed a reputation for ineffectiveness and corruption and for a para-military style of operation.
Major efforts at reform have been underway since the early 1990s with, critics say, only limited success, and the administration has been under pressure to recruit foreign officers in line positions to imbue the organisation with new thinking. Shields was to have been the first of a batch of overseas recruits who were expected to be in place already, coming primarily from the United Kingdom.
However, Observer sources say that the authorities have had difficulty in enticing UK officers to Jamaica, due in part to a shortage of senior officers to fill top ranks on UK forces and concerns about pay and security in Jamaica.
Security ministry officials were not available last night to comment on the specifics of the jobs being advertised, the most surprising of the four being for that for assistant commissioner in charge of the Professional Standards Branch (PSB), a newly-created division that has responsibility for investigating internal corruption.
That PSB is now headed by Assistant Commissioner Novelette Grant, a bright and highly-trained officer who many had earmarked as a future chief of police.
Grant herself was not immediately available for comment but there have been suggestions that she has signalled her intention of leaving the JCF to possibly take up an assignment abroad.
The other areas in which the new assistant commissioners will work are:
. homicide and serious crime investigation;
. operations and firearms; and
. community policing and crime and order partnership.
The specific subject matters to be covered by these portfolios was not immediately clear, however, it is known that the police are to overhaul the system for the issuance and monitoring of firearms following the recent passage by Parliament of legislation for an independent body for the subject.
Community policing is also emerging as an important portfolio, since a study by the US police consulting group PERF listed it as an area for attention.
Observer Reporter
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Jamaica has begun advertising internationally for four assistant commissioners of police, having apparently failed in its effort at direct recruitment for more foreigners as part of its reform of the constabulary.
Government sources said yesterday that ads began appearing in newspapers in Britain, Australia, Canada and the United States for the senior cops, who, if they can be found, will join Mark Shields, the former Scotland Yard policeman, in the senior ranks of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).
Shields, who is deputy commissioner in charge of the crime portfolio, joined the JCF in March and his recruitment is being pointed to in the ads as part of the constabulary's effort at modernisation and its aim to "increase the momentum of change and to improve the effectiveness and efficiency" of the police force.
The advertisements invite applications from serving or retired officers who have held senior command positions at the levels of assistant chief constable and chief superintendent in Britain, or equivalent ranks in the United States, Canada or Australia.
"These officers will have proven leadership and management skills at a strategic level and must be equipped with the inter-personal and communications skills to adapt to policing in Jamaica," the ads say.
The applications must be sent in to Charles Jones, the chief personnel officer at the Services Commission, by July 15.
The salary packages which go with the posts are not disclosed.
With the country's high crime rate, including more than 1,000 homicides a year, Jamaica's 10,000-member constabulary developed a reputation for ineffectiveness and corruption and for a para-military style of operation.
Major efforts at reform have been underway since the early 1990s with, critics say, only limited success, and the administration has been under pressure to recruit foreign officers in line positions to imbue the organisation with new thinking. Shields was to have been the first of a batch of overseas recruits who were expected to be in place already, coming primarily from the United Kingdom.
However, Observer sources say that the authorities have had difficulty in enticing UK officers to Jamaica, due in part to a shortage of senior officers to fill top ranks on UK forces and concerns about pay and security in Jamaica.
Security ministry officials were not available last night to comment on the specifics of the jobs being advertised, the most surprising of the four being for that for assistant commissioner in charge of the Professional Standards Branch (PSB), a newly-created division that has responsibility for investigating internal corruption.
That PSB is now headed by Assistant Commissioner Novelette Grant, a bright and highly-trained officer who many had earmarked as a future chief of police.
Grant herself was not immediately available for comment but there have been suggestions that she has signalled her intention of leaving the JCF to possibly take up an assignment abroad.
The other areas in which the new assistant commissioners will work are:
. homicide and serious crime investigation;
. operations and firearms; and
. community policing and crime and order partnership.
The specific subject matters to be covered by these portfolios was not immediately clear, however, it is known that the police are to overhaul the system for the issuance and monitoring of firearms following the recent passage by Parliament of legislation for an independent body for the subject.
Community policing is also emerging as an important portfolio, since a study by the US police consulting group PERF listed it as an area for attention.
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