EDITORIAL - Decent start by the police

MR OWEN Ellington, the police chief, was quite on point in his reflection on this newspaper naming him as its Man of the Year for 2011.

While the award reflects recognition for past accomplishments, that is not the whole story. It is also looking forward.

Or, as Mr Ellington puts it, the award "feeds in to expectation" by ourselves and the public at large.

"There is a view that the public is setting a much higher standard of performance for us," he said. "... So, the message is for my team members - the men and women of the force - to keep the performance standard up."

There are two fronts on which we celebrate the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). The more immediate, and obviously apparent, is its contribution to last year's decline in crime (which is continuing), especially homicides, that dropped by approximately 18 per cent. The decline for the second half of the year was more than double that rate. For the first half of this year, homicides were down 38 per cent, compared to the corresponding period in 2010.

Seize the moment

It is reasonable, as some have done, to note that the drop in crime, in particular murders, was coincidental with the May 2010 incursion of the security forces into Tivoli Gardens to dismantle the redoubt of the notorious gangster, Christopher Coke. Indeed, the collapse of Coke's empire was helped by the fact that the United States insisted on his extradition, helping to weaken any protective political wall that may have been built around him.

Importantly, though, the constabulary, with Mr Ellington at the head, seized the moment. The opportunity to effect positive change could have been squandered, as has happened in the past.

The second issue of import is the appreciation by the constabulary of the public's perception of the JCF as a corrupt organisation, and Mr Ellington's ongoing programme, continuing the effort of his predecessor, to give them reason to change their mind.

Anti-corruption efforts

Indeed, in the first nine months of this year, the constabulary's Anti-Corruption Branch arrested 64 persons, including 44 police officers, on corruption-related charges. Additionally, there is an increasing effort to use administrative means, including the five-year re-enlistment period, to rid the force of persons against whom there may not be evidence that is verifiable in a court of law, but whose behaviour hint at corruption.

No other public-sector agency or institution, in our view, has displayed as robust an effort as the JCF to tackle corruption. If there are, these agencies do so in secret.

None of this, of course, suggests that the JCF's battle against corruption is anywhere near complete, or that it operates with the level of professionalism that Jamaicans should expect from their constabulary. There is far more work to be done.

We, in that regard, take Mr Ellington at his word that our acknowledgement of past perfor-mance is, for himself and the JCF, merely a spur towards future achievement.