The capacity-filled houses in audience to Consul Genera l Oliver Mair’s distinguished lecture series by Dr Kevin Blake, Jamaica’s commissioner of police, and an evening with the Prime Minister of Jamaica Dr Andrew Holness, an event again hosted by the consulate, proved the full mark and measure of the Diaspora’s interest and engagement in national development.

Both events in South Florida, they were a week apart — the commissioner, first, addressing the impact of security on national development at the West Broward Island Space Caribbean Museum; and the prime minister at the Christway Baptist Church in Miramar, on the country’s particular inflection point in pursuing socio-economic stability.

For those of us eagerly trooping from one event to the other, there was a hushed yet feverish expectation that both presentations would be inextricably linked. So here we were, a captive and attentive audience to every word that the Prime Minister himself was asking us to share with family and friends back home.

Dr Blake calmly assertive with his interactive presentation — shoulders reassuringly raised especially with probing questions on the murder rate of women and the use of body cameras — first began, importantly, to highlight the relationship between security and national development in addressing the transformation of the police force.

The stage was quickly set by these opening quotes:

• Kofi Annan, former UN secretary general: Without security there can be no development. Without development there can be no security…

• F D Roosevelt, former US president: The first wealth is security. Without it progress collapses under the weight of uncertainty.

• Barack Obama, former US president: The rule of law and security are the cornerstones of a prosperous and stable society.

• Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda: Security is the foundation of every successful society and without stability investment and growth are impossible.

In laying the platform from which he sought to secure and sustain our interest in the transformation of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), Dr Blake outlined the three pillars of this makeover – people, quality and technology. He stressed the point that, in his 23 years as a member of the JCF — the 30th commissioner and the 15th native so appointed, with his term in office now just over a year — transformation was always being advanced, though previously it was never invested at a level where strategic and executive decisions could be made. Dependent on the interest of the commissioner at the time, the rate of what would be transformed would fluctuate. In the last couple of years, he said, an entire portfolio was created with a specific mandate to carry forward transformation — enabling a deputy commissioner to continue the process.

Yes, he seized the floor and relayed a number of interesting developments in the operations of the JCF — from gang management (geographic information system built by the police department, receiving an international award) to sophisticated data centres with a command control communication centre to come to enhance the “connected cop”, equipped with the relevant devices. Also highlighted were cutting-edge cybersecurity applications and team; focus deterrence, fugitive apprehension, quick response teams, and 340 additional vehicles. The force is intelligence-led which led to the building excellent case files rapidly. Proudly, it was an operational unit with the prestigious world ISO 9001 certification, going into its fourth year, for administrative structure and efficiency.

Murders were down — a 19 per cent reduction rate, with an 18 per cent reduction in overall crime, marking the lowest crime rate that Jamaica has seen in 35 years.

It all sunk in — rerouting us to the very beginning of his presentation on the transformation needed of the mindset of the members of the JCF, the people delivering the security product to positively impact national development.

Make no mistake about it, deep lines of concern on the collective foreheads of the public are not easily removed, and for those of us who would be spending, in a week’s time, an evening with the prime minister, we were quite keen on the environment to be outlined enabling security and development as complements.

It would be weighing on the minds of many of us, this symbiotic relationship, invariably ensuring greater public trust in operations and relations, more so given the commissioner’s revelation that a recent survey showed that 75 per cent of the time the public was satisfied interacting with the police.

Prime Minister Holness, beginning rather frankly that he was there to share his mind with us — while invariably searching ours — addressed how Jamaica was now at an inflection point, a point at which the efforts were yielding greater results. While the transformation was taking place, however, there would be some, he said, who may not see or feel the results. He described this as the paradox of progress, because the changes being made in transforming the society will cause dislocation for some.

He stressed that, even in an Information Age, such as ours, one could not take it for granted that people would necessarily know what’s taking place, and at this inflective turning point people must know what the Government is doing. This turning point, he declared, yielding particular results, led to the delivery of 10 budgets without new taxes, an independent central bank with the largest reserve in history, and a stabilised exchanged rate — as Jamaica outperformed its peer group, being an example of a country pulling itself from the brink of bankruptcy and now a case study in financial management.

The law of economics, he said, is as immutable as the law of physics, hence the need for fiscal prudence as one may not live beyond one’s means. It was the charge to us, he said, by National Hero Norman Manley to find this economic independence, and the essence and ideal of what our other National Hero Marcus Garvey was all about.

Jamaica’s financial system, he said, was strong and resilient. It would therefore have to be protected.

Perking and piquing our interest, the prime minister shared his mind on crime. We recalled more opening quotes presented by the commissioner:

• Ronald Reagan, former US President): First duty of Government is to protect its people.

• Lee Kuan Yew, first prime minister of Singapore: Security and development are two sides of the same coin.

It is time, the prime minister stated, to reculture our people as violence has become deeply ingrained. A two-pronged strategy was adopted. First, to address violence as a public health concern (domestic, parenting, etc.). This type of violence had crept into and was now rooted in our communities, overtaking social interactions, and the National Violence Prevention Commission was being engaged for recommendations. The other strategy was continuing to be tough on organised violence, which was coordinating gangs in communities as 70 per cent of murders were gang-related. New legislations were coming and he was pleased that the police had been robust and kinetic in their operations.

The transformation of the force, the change in mindset of its members to provide real meaning to serve and protect — that the very constable will view his beat not just as a shift but as worthwhile contribution to national development — must be seen as a mechanics for the reculturing of the society that the prime minister is advocating to reduce our collective coarseness and callousness. The police are to be stitched into our social fabric belonging to our neighbourhoods without suspicion and distrust. That enhances output and productivity, yielding greater results, a message that should be taken and presented by both leaders around the country.

Curtis Myrie is a journalist, marketer and writer. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or curtis.myrie545@gmail.com.

Commissioner of Police Dr Kevin Blake