KINGSTON, Jamaica— Commissioner of Police, Major General Antony Anderson, has claimed there has been less crowding outside the Criminal Records Office on Duke Street in downtown Kingston after important improvements were made to its system of application and certificate collection.

During the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s (JCF) monthly press conference held on Tuesday, the Commissioner announced that a new online application platform is in working order, which has reduced the need for people to apply in person, among other changes. Also in working order, according to Anderson, is the system of collection.

“You can access this platform by visiting the resource section of our website at jcf.gov.jm. We have also established a police certificate collection centre at the Police Officers’ Club located at 34 Hope Road. These two adjustments have improved our efficiency and have reduced crowding at our Duke Street office,” the Commissioner said.

Anderson stated that the system is still being refined and therefore called for the public to exercise patience as the transition is being made.

During the press conference in June he described the production of police certificates as one of the crucial services provided by the JCF.

“This directly impacts the economy, national development and a number of sectors that depend on this service for recruitment. We have been reviewing our processes at our criminal records offices at 56 Duke Street and our three sub sites located in May Pen Clarendon, Pompano Bay in St Mary and Summit in St James. This is part of our ongoing modernization effort to improve the quality of our service delivery.

“We are aware of the challenges faced by the public and various entities as it relates to the processing times for police records. This has been largely due to the significant increase in the demand for this service over time. Earlier this year, we upgraded our automated arm and fingerprint identification system to a multi biometric identification system.

“This upgraded system will increase the storage capacity and reduce the processing time taken to generate certificates. In addition to this system upgrade, we are also in the testing phase for an online application and appointment system. We are also pursuing different arrangements for the collection of police certificates.”

Chaos is a known common feature outside the Criminal Records Office on Duke Street on a daily basis.

In July one frustrated Portland resident told journalists that he had to get up from 4:00am to get to the office in Kingston and at 2:00pm he was still among people who crowded the entrance of the facilities.

“I had to get up from 4 o’clock to get here and out here is a chaos,” he said.

Another man, who complained bitterly about the situation, said, “Police record so important. You can’t even get a job without it and look pon di crowd”.