Editorial | Size matters, Dr Chang

Horace Chang, the national security minister, is at one with logic and history that Jamaica's political elite, including those of his party, are culpable for having underinvested in the country's security forces. What we look for now, however, are neither apologies nor hand-wringing, but effective actions to put right those past failings.

That, unfortunately, was not a matter that Dr Chang, still new in the job, didn't substantially address in Parliament this week when he went to bat for the extension of the states of public emergency in the parish of St James and the police district of St Catherine North. It is something we look forward to in the near future as part of a credible anti-crime strategy, ahead of any further request for the extension of the emergency measures when the current mandate expires in three months' time.

By then, Dr Chang should have had a firm and clear conceptual grasp of his portfolio, including what ought to be the areas of priority for the allocation of resources to the security forces. On Tuesday in the House, he seemed not to be clear on this point, including whether it would make sense to increase the size of the police force.

That, however, is a question on which there ought to be no debate. Dr Chang must get past his muddle.

The minister got it right that the police force is in need of better stations and more technology to gather and manage intelligence, as well as training to develop investigative skills.

Then Dr Chang said this: "There is talk about numbers, but it is very questionable if more numbers is the answer. The reality is that Jamaica's police force, in relation to the population, is relatively adequate."

He attempted to justify that assertion by comparing the relative size of Jamaica's police force with those of the US cities of New York and Chicago, using no or wrong data and without qualitative analyses of the respective environments. Further, he offered no comparison of the size of Jamaica's police force against those of its Caribbean neighbours and economic community partners.

Up to last September, there were only11,433 actual members of the constabulary - a shortfall of 2,659 and a ratio of 423 cops per 100,000 citizens. Even at a full complement, it has to be remembered that police officers are supposed to work eight-hour days; that some fall ill; and that some will be off the job on holiday or for various other reasons.

MAY BE OVERRATED

Jamaica, with a population of around 2.7 million, recorded more than 1,600 murders in 2017 for a homicide rate of approximately 60 per 100,000 population. The established size of the island's police force is 14,092, or 522 for every 100,000 Jamaicans. In comparison to Jamaica, there are nearly 850 police officers to 100,000 citizens in The Bahamas. In Grenada, that ratio is nearly 820:100,000; Antigua and Barbuda, over 730:100,000; and in St Lucia, nearly 560:100,000. In other words, all these countries have more police officers per capita than Jamaica, although they have lower homicide rates and less general crime.

Dr Chang incorrectly suggested that New York was the only major US city with a larger police force than Jamaica's and used that to imply that in the context of a constabulary, size may be overrated if it is well-trained and technologically equipped. That is not entirely true.

In New York City, there are about 421 police per 100,000 residents, there were 290 murders there last year. But there was a time - up to the 1990s - when the city had a horrendously high homicide rate. During the height of its transformation, the city increased the size of its police force by nearly 30 per cent. Chicago, where homicides fell 15 per cent in 2017, has also been increasing the size of its force.

At home, murders and other crimes have fallen precipitously in the parishes with the states of emergency, due in no small measure to the presence of large numbers of police and soldiers. But that has meant a displacement from other communities where crime has risen. Size does matter.