Dr Kevin Blake took the reins of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) on Monday promising to implement programmes designed to win hearts and minds while restoring the reputation of the police as the nation’s rightful legal custodians.

In a ceremony devoid of the pomp and pageantry usually associated with the handover of office, Blake, a career cop for more than 20 years, was handed the leadership baton by Major General Antony Anderson, who served as police commissioner for six years, since 2018.

“Under my watch, unprecedented programmes will be launched to win the hearts and minds of communities across Jamaica to restore the JCF as the rightful legal guardians of Jamaica, providing trusted and reliable security services,” Blake told attendees at Police Commissioner’s Office on Old Hope Road in St Andrew.

“We know that there are far more law-abiding people in Jamaica than the lawless and criminal among us. We will isolate these criminals, we will disrupt criminal gangs, pursue, capture, and build air-tight cases for the conviction of the producers, facilitators, and sympathisers of crime whose only desire is to cause mayhem,” he said.

“These people do not deserve the shelter and protection of law-abiding citizens. We only have one Jamaica. The Jamaican people deserve to live peacefully and to enjoy a safe, secure society, free of fear,” added the man who is now Jamaica’s 18th police commissioner.

“I rise to be the commissioner of police, the chief constable for all Jamaicans, mindful of the weight of this office and what is required of me. I am prepared and ready to bring the best of my intellect, training, personal discipline and emotional intelligence to lead this Jamaica Constabulary Force to be the next best edition of itself,” Blake said, sharing that he felt a profound sense of duty as a career policeman.

He also assured the members of the JCF that he has their backs.

The new commissioner vowed to continue to build on the technological advancements introduced to the JCF by General Anderson and said that his leadership will be marked by transparency and accountability.

Meanwhile, in his outgoing address, General Anderson, who was not a career cop, expressed gratitude to the men and women he led, as well as the wider public for their support.

He said, too, that it was important for the new commissioner to come from within the JCF.

“Thank you all for your support. It was a great time. My six-year journey felt like it was over in a flash. We moved from where people had not much good to say to a point where we are winning awards,” Anderson said.

“I wanted to make sure that my successor came from within. We have had to make sure that people start to believe the force could become a force for good. A lot is left to be achieved, because what I started I couldn’t finish, and what Dr Blake will start, he will not finish,” Anderson said, adding that some of the programmes Blake will implement will be taken over and improved on by his successor.