EDITORIAL - Move to full civilian oversight of police, too

The Government's decision, announced by the national security minister, Peter Bunting, to move ahead, finally, with the merger of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) is quite sensible.

Why it didn't happen in the more than two decades since it was firmly placed on agenda by the Wolf Committee during the tenure of K.D. Knight, was revealed by Mr Knight, in remarks to this newspaper.

Mr Knight, when he was security minister, felt that "it was better to have two separate groups, because you never know what can happen".

The obvious translation of that sentiment, to which Mr Knight's successors, on either side of the political fence, obviously subscribed, is that in the event of disloyalty of one body of constables, the Government/State could call on the other. That approach, a kind of governance of suspicion, is not a principle by which a modern democracy should be managed.

In any event, as Mr Bunting indicated, in our crime-riddled society, there is potentially greater value to be extracted by merging the organisations, not having them separate.

As it is now, the two organisations require separate command and management structures, which, if merged, will not only save money, but free more staff to actually prevent and detect crime. For instance, there should be a seamless implementation of strategy and tactics and more effective gains from police to population ratio, which, at around 450 per 100,000, is among the lowest in the Caribbean.

It is a fact that the merger will vest a larger force and more power in the hands of the police chief who will, perforce, be leader of the JCF. For, effectively, the ISCF will be collapsed into that body.

Expand reform

Greater power, we feel, demands greater accountability. In that regard, Mr Bunting's reform ought not to end with the merger of the JCF and the ISCF.

He was known, at one time, to favour the merger of the Police Service Commission (PSC), which has responsibility for appointments and discipline, and the newer Police Civilian Oversight Authority (PCOA), which supposedly has oversight for the implementation by the police of policy, but has little real power. Mr Bunting should revive and implement that project - but with more.

We propose the establishment of a new, civilian-dominated oversight commission to which the police chief would be operationally accountable. He accounts to no one at present. It would also review crime-fighting priorities as well as have oversight for the police's management of their budget.

Such a commission could be broadly modelled off the elected police and crime commissions that now exist in England and Wales, but tailored to the Jamaican environment.

We appreciate that the PSC is a constitutionally anchored body that requires special legislative procedures to change. But it is not governed by a deeply entrenched clause - Section 129. In any event, bipartisan support for the idea should not be difficult to gain. In the meantime, ahead of constitutional change, much could be achieved by normal legislative action.

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