This is the fifth in our ‘From the Manifestos’ series, which highlights several key areas presented by the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the Opposition People’s National Party in the lead up to the December 29 general election.

The JLP on crime

IN putting forward its plan to continue its drive to reduce crime, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) noted that high crime has created a society bogged down by fear to the point of being underproductive and less patriotic.

It also pointed to crime creating an atmosphere that has put off foreign visitors and investors.

Claiming credit for a 36 per cent reduction in major crimes since 2007, the JLP said it had already begun improving the effectiveness of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) by improving its mobility; enhancing the physical infrastructure and strengthening its human resource capacity and effectiveness. It also said it had been enhancing the Ministry of National Security’s programme for social intervention, crime prevention and community safety since it took office.

The JLP administration has identified 10 initiatives on which it intends to focus in its next term, should it be returned to office at the polls.

Efforts will be focused on deepening the implementation of community policing including increasing police working partnerships with residents, the private sector, schools, tourism and farmers.

There will also be greater police involvement in diversion and management of youth at risk of offending, youth deemed uncontrollable, youth operating at the lower levels of gangs or who have committed low-level offences, the manfesto sets out.

Another pillar of the JLP’s anti-crime plan will be the establishment of what it calls “resourced multi-agency response organisational networks, focused on crime prevention and community safety and capable of supporting social intervention and other crime prevention initiatives, primarily at the parish level”.

The JLP says it will work to increase citizens’ trust in the police even as it continues its transformation of the culture of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) through the culture change committees and workshops set up earlier this year.

Additionally, the party says it intends to oversee a merger of the Private Security Regulations Authority (PSRA) and the Firearms Licensing Authority (FLA), a recommendation of the Public Sector Transformation Programme.

The Police Services Commission (PSC) and the Police Civilian Oversight Authority (PCOA) are also to be merged, creating a new Police Authority.

“This new arrangement will also see the commissioner of police (while maintaining ‘operational responsibility’) being held to account for the exercise of his functions and those services the police force provides to the public,” the JLP manifesto outlines.

This new entity will enjoy the constitutional protection afforded to the present Police Services Commission. The authority will also be responsible for monitoring the implementation of policies relating to the management of the police force and the management and use of financial and other resources. It will, in addition, monitor and assess the performance of the police and their effectiveness.

In terms of border security, a second-term JLP administration would expand the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) Border Management System and strengthen the agency’s investigative capacity to end corruption in the citizenship application process.

The JLP is also promising to strengthen the Department of Correctional Services (DCS); regularising the transfer of responsibility of remand from the JCF to the DCS in lock-ups.

The mobility of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) is to be strengthened by the procurement of troop carriers, patrol vehicles, administrative vehicles and utility-type vehicles of which an estimated 200 are needed. The Maritime Awareness and Response Capabilities of the JDF will also be boosted.

The PNP on Crime

THE Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), if given the mandate to govern the country come Thursday, has said it will pursue a three-pronged approach to national security in order to effectively address the scourge of violent crime.

It cited in its manifesto, presented two weeks ago, that for many years Jamaicans have lived under the threat of violence and criminality on a scale that has negatively impacted the national psyche and stymied economic growth and investment.

The party said it intends to try to fix that by focussing on three areas: making institutional improvements, targeting organised crime, and fostering greater trust of law enforcement among the populace.

Specifically, a future PNP Government, the party says, will strengthen the human and institutional capacity of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) with the intention of ensuring it maintains high professional standards.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is also to be a major focal point for a PNP administration which has said it is already pushing for the establishment of a Police Management Authority (PMA).

This new body is intended to be a statutory authority with jurisdiction over the constitution, management, administration and regulation of the police force.

The PNP noted that setting up this new agency will require the repeal of the Jamaica Constabulary Force Act, the Special Constables Act and the District Constables Act. Other legislative measures will need to be undertaken in order to transfer the functions of the Police Services Commission and the Police Civilian Oversight Authority to the PMA.

This move is part of plans the Opposition says it has to further modernise the police force. This modernisation will entail targeting organised crime which, according to its manifesto, is something the PNP said it has a proven track record of fighting. The party pointed to what it said were “some highly publicised interdictions and interventions, without any external prompting”.

“In recognising the typical transnational character of organised crime, the previous PNP Government embarked on a deliberate policy of co-operation between local law enforcement bodies and international enforcement partners, to ensure the extradition of criminal ‘dons’ to countries with evidentially stronger jurisdictional claims against them,” the manifesto reads.

“This has always been done without any compromise to our sovereignty; and in practical acknowledgement of the enormous resources available to transnational criminals; but, with an unrelenting resolve to secure their conviction by all available legal and constitutional means.”

In putting forth its plans to deal with crime, the PNP said it intends to reduce distrust between citizens and law enforcement, which, it noted, “goes hand in hand with the ‘informer fi dead’ subculture”, and makes effective policing very difficult.

The PNP, if it forms the new Government, has said it will seek to change this subculture “by changing the approach of the leadership of the police to one which embraces service, accountability and a de-centralisation of authority,” reads the document.

As such, the party says, the JCF will be repositioned as a civilian law enforcement organisation. Special units capable of dealing with situations of extreme violence are to be set up to operate in tandem with the JDF.

A new PNP administration has also committed to overseeing the development of a tertiary-level Forensic Science Programme to provide training for a professional cadre of forensic scientists and crime scene investigators. This, it said, will help law enforcement to keep pace with the challenges of increasingly sophisticated criminals.

The PNP, in recognition of the rate of recidivism in Jamaican prisons, said it will focus on rehabilitation, re-socialisation and re-training of inmates. Additionally, it said it intended to help equip them with conflict-resolution skills, as well as focus on the improvement of conditions in correctional facilities.