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Jamaica Constabulary Force | |
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Abbreviation | JCF |
Motto | Serve, Protect and Reassure |
Agency overview | |
Formed | 1716 |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction | Jamaica |
Size | 10,990 sq mi (28,463.97 km2) |
Population | 2,726,667 (2018) |
Operational structure | |
Headquarters | Kingston, Jamaica |
Elected officer responsible | |
Agency executive |
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Facilities | |
Stations |
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Website | |
Official website |
The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is the national police force of Jamaica.
The history of law enforcement in Jamaica began in 1716 when night watchmen were appointed to serve the cities of Port Royal, Kingston, and the parishes of Saint Catherine and Saint Andrew. In 1832 the first attempt to establish a permanent police force began, and William Ramsay was appointed Inspector general of the police force in 1835.
This force continued in service until 1865, the year of the Morant Bay rebellion. This uprising demonstrated the vulnerability of peace and law on Jamaica and caused the establishment of an improved police force, the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) was established by Law 8 of 1867, during the period of British colonialism in Jamaica. The JCF was intended to be a civil body with a military structure. [1]
In 1948, it was reported that the JCF was split into three branches: the Uniformed Branch, Water Police, and Detectives. [2]
In July 2014, Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, Glenmore Hinds, was appointed the Acting Commissioner of Police following the sudden retirement of Police Commissioner Owen Ellington.[ citation needed ] In September 2014, the Minister of National Security announced the appointment of Deputy Commissioner Carl M. Williams, Ph.D., to become the new Commissioner of Police.[ citation needed ]
In December 2016, Carl Williams announced that he will be retiring from the Jamaica Constabulary Force effective January 6, 2017. The Police Services Commission immediately named Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Novelette P. Grant, JP, MA, M.Sc. to act as Commissioner of Police for 90 days effective January 7, 2017. DCP Grant is only female holding one of the four deputy commissioner rank in the Jamaica Constabulary Force. [3]
On April 10, 2017, the Police Services Commission announced the appointment of Deputy Commissioner George F. Quallo as the new commissioner of police effective April 18, 2017.
On January 26, 2018, George Quallo announced that he will be retiring from the Jamaica Constabulary Force, he was expected to demit office in August 2018. [4] On February 1, 2018, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Clifford Blake to act as Commissioner of Police until March 19, 2018, when Major General Antony Anderson will officially be appointed to the post. Major General A. Anderson will be the third former JDF head to be appointed as Commissioner of Police. [5] [6]
On March 18, 2024, Kevin Blake became the Commissioner of police in March 2024.
The force is the arm of the Ministry which is responsible for the maintenance of law and order, the prevention and detection of crime, the investigation of alleged crimes, the protection of life and property and the enforcement of all criminal laws as defined by the Jamaican penal code. The JCF also provides general assistance to the public, as needed. By adherence to their Citizens' Charter, the JCF endeavours to serve its citizens in general service and through the impartial, transparent enforcement of law and order.
The National Police College of Jamaica, formerly known as the Jamaica Police Academy is the Constabulary's training school located at Twickenham Park in Spanish Town. Twickenham Park was home to the Jamaica School of Agriculture from 1942 to 1981. The school was defunct in 1981. Simultaneously, there was a push to urbanize the Twickenham Park Area. This urban development gave some land to the JCF. Under the guidance of Commissioner Bill Bowes, police school from Port Royal was relocated to Twickenham Park in 1982. After its relocation, in 1982, the institution was renamed the Jamaica Police Academy (JPA). The lecture theatre of the JPA was unveiled in July 1987 by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher. The National Police College of Jamaica was established in June 2014. [7]
The commissioners of police from 1867 to present are as follows. [8]
1867–1878 | Major J. H. Prenderville |
1879–1886 | E H. B. Hartwell |
1887–1891 | Captain L. F. Knollys |
1892–1895 | Major M. J. Fawcett |
1900–1904 | Edward F. Wright |
1904–1919 | A. E. Kershaw |
1919–1925 | William E. Clarke |
1925–1932 | Col. M. D. Harrell |
1932–1947 | Owen (Jack) Wright |
1948–1953 | W. A. Calver |
1953–1958 | Col. R. T. Mitchelin |
1957–1962 | L. P. R. Browning [9] |
1962–1964 | N. A. Croswell |
1964–1970 | A. G. Langdon |
1970–1973 | J. R. Middleton |
1973–1977 | Basil L. Robinson, |
1977–1980 | D. O. Campbell, |
1980–1982 | W. O. Bowes |
1982–1984 | J. E. Williams |
1984–1991 | Herman Emanuel Ricketts |
1991–1993 | Roy E. Thompson |
1993–1996 | Col. Trevor N. N. MacMillan |
1996–2005 | Francis A. Forbes |
2005–2007 | Lucius Thomas |
2007–2009 | Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin |
2010–2014 | Owen Ellington |
2014–2017 | Carl Williams, OD, CD, JP, PhD |
2017–2018 | George Quallo |
2018–2024 | Major General Antony Bertram Anderson |
2024–Present | Kevin Blake |
There are 11 ranks in the JCF. They are (in order of highest to lowest):
Gazetted ranks
Rank | Commissioner | Deputy commissioner | Assistant commissioner | Senior superintendent |
Insignia |
Rank | Superintendent | Deputy superintendent | Assistant superintendent |
Insignia |
Non-gazetted ranks
Rank | Inspector | Sergeant | Corporal | Constable |
Insignia | No badges assigned |
A white, high-collared tunic is sometimes worn by all ranks on ceremonial occasions, with blue/black peaked cap and trousers.
As of April 2023, with the implementation of the government of Jamaica's new compensation review system, a recently graduated police constable's basic pay starts at J$ 173,056.63 per month gross. The salary increases each year and also with promotion. The highest level constable earns upwards of J$ 210,852.70 as basic pay. A constable with six (6) or more years of service earns a service pay which starts at J$ 20,000 monthly. Senior level constables earn more in service pay. There is also an overtime system allowing officers to earn more if they work beyond the hours they are scheduled to work.
Police officers are privy to allowances payable depending on where they work as also courses they have participated in. Some of those allowances include driving allowances, plain clothes allowance, technical allowance, etc.
Below is the starting monthly basic salary ranges of the other federated ranks of the JCF, not including allowances and other seniority remunerations.
Listed below are the monthly minimum starting basic pay for the gazetted ranks of the JCF, not including allowances and other seniority remunerations.
Members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force are trained at one of two colleges; Twickenham Park, Spanish Town, St. Catherine and Harman Barracks Training Wing in Kingston, adjacent to Up Park Camp. Recruits undergo a minimum of six months' basic training. Students are required to sit for four written examinations called modules, and twelve practical tests. They are exposed to on-the-job training through visits to selected police stations and parish courts. Upon completion of basic training, they are transferred to various divisions (where they are placed under supervision of the divisional training sub-officer) to continue their two-year probationary training. At the end of 18 months' service, probationary officers return to the Jamaica Police Academy for an additional five weeks of training. Thereafter, they return to their divisions to complete the probationary period.
Some elements of the JCF are trained in a para-military fashion, and the element of the force is the Specialized Operations Branch (formerly Mobile Reserve).
The JCF has been accused of carrying out extrajudicial killings. [17] In 2003 the Crime Management Unit (CMU), headed by the controversial Reneto Adams, was disbanded following allegations that it was "Jamaica's version of Dirty Harry". [18] Mark Shields, then of Scotland Yard and later Deputy Police Commissioner of the JCF, was brought in from London to investigate; Adams was acquitted of shooting four people in an alleged extrajudicial execution. [19]
In a climate of gang warfare cops with a record of killing gangsters such as Keith "Trinity" Gardner (noted for shooting several members of the Stone Crusher gang [20] ) and Cornwall "Bigga" Ford ( [21] who was on the scene at the alleged killing of seven 15–20-year-old youths in Braeton in 2001) became folk heroes. [22] The police team was searching for suspects who had killed a teacher in cold blood, and a policeman a few months earlier.
Per capita killings by the JCF are among the highest in the world. With a population of less than three million, police killed 140 people each year in the 1990s [17] —five times the death rate in 1990s South Africa. Current rates may be as many as 300 per year. [23] This makes Jamaica's police force "among the deadliest in the world". [24]
On 31 July 2010, three policemen were arrested after they were filmed beating (and then shooting to death) an unarmed murder suspect, Ian Lloyd, in Buckfield, St. Ann; Lloyd was lying on the ground, writhing and apparently helpless. The footage was shown on TVJ television news 30 July 2010. Initial police reports were at variance with the actions shown in the amateur-video footage later released. [25] The officers involved in the killing were acquitted due to an inability to present the maker of the video for court to authenticate it for evidentiary purposes.
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