Ministry of National Security

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Deputy Superintendent of Police Martin Daylis is quite taken with this little beauty who was one of many present at the Jamaica Constabulary Force's Christmas Treat (held last December) in Payne Avenue in Kingston.

Payne Avenue in Kingston is an inner city community in transition, and at the heart of the turnabout are officers of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).
When violence flared in the community in December 2002 the Jamaica Constabulary Force retaliated in a manner that has won it accolades from Caribbean counterparts.

Senior Superintendent Lindberg Simpson of the JCF's community relations arm who headed the intervention took JIS News on a vivid journey showing an inner city community en route to change; a transformation, which has caused the JCF to capture first place in category two of the annual community-policing award sponsored by Motorola and the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police (ACCP).

He says it was the "increasing level of lawlessness in the community of about 15000 people" which held residents in the grip of fear that drew the keepers of the law. He painted a picture of a community from which a "large number of government agencies had withdrawn their services because of fear for their own security," and a community where residents were not free to move about because of fears of the consequences of being caught in other persons 'territory'.

Furthermore he says, the statistics spoke for itself with nine cases of homicide and numerous cases of rape "the gunmen were just devastating the young women," he tells JIS News.

"That's the time we moved in. the police high command having evaluated the situation determined that we had to take a different approach to policing in that particular community and so large numbers of police officers were assigned to that community on the first of November 2002," a move followed by conferences with the media and community people on the "perceived problems and objectives," Senior Superintendent Simpson says.

From then on, he says the community was flushed with police officers on foot, a method which he says helped to create a level of security and calm in the community," resulting in the "trouble makers" deserting the community and "wanted men" being apprehended.

It was not a fight fire with fire approach, as accompanying the operations to clamp down on the criminal activities was a social intervention programme funded by a number of corporate entities.

It was an approach which encompassed the oldest to the youngest and it was not long before the JCF could "discern the change in the attitudes of the people towards the police," despite an icy first reception.

"After we got to moving through the community and talking to some of the people inside, there was a softening of the relationship," Senior Superintendent Simpson says. To strengthen the pact, a football match was organized in which the community's football team trumped the police winning the trophy and prizes. "We think it helped to lift the self esteem of the youngsters and helped them to see themselves in another light," he states, adding that one of the identified causes of problems in inner city communities was the low level of self-esteem.

The crowning glory of the effort was the multipurpose sport complex built from 'phase one' of some $20 million allocated to assist the police's anticrime drive and social intervention programmes by the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund.

Senior Superintendent Simpson explains that this was because the community identified the lack of a suitable place for recreation as one of its "greatest needs". He says the second phase of the project will see seating and bathroom facilities being added. Continuing their efforts the officers refurbished the basic school in the area providing them with a refrigerator, books and other amenities.

The students of the Haile Selassie Comprehensive High School in the area were not exempt from the goodwill of the police and there is a working partnership between the police and the teachers to aid some 75 students who were assessed and identified as 'slow learners'. With the aid of corporate Jamaica an after school programme was also developed for youngsters who displayed potential but lacked a proper place to complete their assignments and did not have the necessary support systems at home. The students are now being tutored in the areas of English, Mathematics and the Sciences.

With regards to the crime situation, he points out that for 2003 there were only two homicides without a single case of rape. Furthermore, he says there has been a reduction in the amount of disputes, which could be attributed to the JCF's attempt to teach mediation skills.

The environment was also in for a makeover and at the outset over 50 truckloads of garbage was pulled from the area. Today the National Solid Waste Management Agency enters the community frequently and it is kept "relatively clean," and pothole riddled roads are a thing of the past.

There is an active Boy Scout and Girl Guide movement, and a soon to be established Police Youth Club. The communities marching band has received much attention and has been contracted to perform at the Denbigh Agricultural Show in August this year.

The Senior Superintendent says due to the improved relationship between the police and the citizenry and the relative absence of tension they have been able to remove some of the officers who were on duty in the area and redeploy them elsewhere.

"It is a rising, a progressive rising of the attitudes and the values and the self-esteem which is absolutely necessary to build communities," he states, adding that consideration is being given to replicating the programmes in Flankers in Montego Bay and Canterbury.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of CHASE Billy Heaven says the recognition gained by the project is due to "the impact that it is creating and has created because of the relationship that it has helped to rebuild between the police and the community", the consequent reduction in violence and criminal activity and the new lease on life given to the community. He says CHASE is happy to be associated with the project and expressed confidence in the sustainability of the change, noting that it is hoped that the other projects in which the fund collaborated with the JCF, will reap similar rewards.

He informs that the $20 million allocated for the JCF's interventions is given in installments and the Payne Avenue project for which the award was received was among several social intervention efforts including health fairs, interventions in early childhood education and the enhancement of basic school facilities in areas of St. Catherine and Kingston.

The funding is a Caribbean award sponsored by Motorola and the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police and gives recognition to outstanding policing projects. In this event 24 Caribbean states participated in the competition in categories A and B, with A being for small states with over 100 police officers and B for larger states of over 1000 police officers. Jamaica competed in category B and was selected as the Caribbean winner.

This is the second time that the JCF's has won the competition, which began in 2002. The first victory was with the "Second Chance Project" which focused on inner-city kids and was funded by the Kellog Foundation.

CHASE was incorporated as a company in November 2002 and began operations in January 2003, with a mandate to receive, distribute and administer monetary contributions from lottery companies in Jamaica.

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