Editorial | General Anderson’s gift from the Police Federation

Police Chief Antony Anderson needs to say if, indeed, he has a top rank of lazy and incompetent officers who are undermining his efforts at reforming the constabulary, and if so, what he intends to do about it.

Further, it would be useful to know if Patrae Rowe, the chairman of the Police Federation, is acting as a stalking horse for the commissioner and, should that be so, what could be in it for him and the federation. Of course, it could just be that Detective Sergeant Rowe is just fed up with a malingering, corrupt police force and wants Major General Anderson to get on with the job of its overhaul.

In either event, it is an opportunity for Commissioner Anderson to take the public into his confidence and talk frankly about his vision for the constabulary and the challenges he faces in delivering on it.

It is highly unusual for members of Jamaica’s police force, especially the rank and file officers for whom Mr Rowe speaks, to rally around a police chief who was recruited to the top from outside the Force, including former heads of the army, as was the case with Major General Anderson.

A circling of the wagons usually happens, in defence of the status quo, when the ‘outsider’ attempts to change things. It is what is notoriously known as the ‘squaddie mentality’ of the Jamaican police.

However, in an article published by this newspaper on Tuesday, and previously reported on, on Sunday, Detective Sergeant Rowe launched a broadside against senior officers of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), who, he claimed, were openly defiant of Commissioner Anderson’s directives about the welfare of their juniors, who have grown demotivated by the behaviour.

He said: “Commissioner Anderson has been handed some incompetent, inconsiderate and lazy subordinates who are aiding against his efforts. The commissioner’s approach to members’ welfare and concerns are sometimes incongruent with some of his subordinates, who are openly defiant.

“As a Police Federation, we have a duty, in the interest of the force, to efficiently highlight poor leadership to the commissioner of police and, going forward, that we will do. Unless some of these officers are retired in the public interest and replaced with officers with strong leadership qualities, we will continue to mismanage resources which, effectively, lead to a mismanagement of crime. Officers being promoted outside of their scope is another issue that detains us.”

While the specific matters raised by Mr Rowe are directly relevant to rank-and-file cops, such as how, and to where, they are transferred, as well as other conditions of employment, they, more fundamentally, suggest a dysfunctional police force, which is itself both cause and symptom of an even deeper malaise – corruption in the JCF.

OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMISSIONER

Indeed, the JCF is widely presumed not only to be highly corrupt, but also deeply resistant to change. It has defied myriad efforts at reform over the past quarter-century. Some analysts suggest that significant change in attitudes in the force, in the near term, would require culling, in a short time, between 2,000 and 2,500, or between 17 to 20 per cent of its membership, to achieve the demonstrative effect that the authorities are serious about fighting corruption.

While General Anderson has addressed the matter of corruption in the force, it isn’t an issue about which he has been particularly vocal or outwardly aggressive. He appears, up to now, more intent on dealing with the problem by way of attrition of members and improved internal oversight.

Detective Sergeant Rowe, notably, confined his remarks about the removal of officers to the senior ranks, which, while absolutely critical, wouldn’t be sufficient to clear the rot.

We have, in the past, made known our concern over Mr Rowe’s seeming wish to remove the independent oversight of INDECOM from police officers who abuse their powers, or, for the agency to be benign in dealing with complaints. We don’t expect it to be the case now that he is seeking a quid pro quo with Commissioner Anderson on the matter, but rather that he has spoken out of genuine concern for the future of the JCF.

Whatever his intention, the federation’s chairman has opened an opportunity for General Anderson to bring the public to his side and to move rapidly on an overhaul of the JCF. That opportunity won’t last for long.