| Jamaica Constabulary Force | |
| Abbreviation | JCF |
| Patch of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. | |
| Motto | Serve, Protect and Reassure |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1716 |
| Employees | 9,589 |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Elected officer responsible | Owen Ellington, Commissioner |
| Facilities | |
| Stations | Area Headquarters: 5
Division Headquarters: 19 Stations: About 190 Recruiting Centres: 4 |
| Website | |
| Official Site | |
The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is the police force of the island nation of Jamaica. The official JCF staff numbers 9,930 plus 55 auxiliary positions, making a total of 9,985; its current strength (as of 2011) is 8,441. Its commissioner is Owen Ellington, M.Sc, B.Sc, CD. Approximately 50 police officers have been killed in the line of duty since 2002.
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The force is the arm of the Ministry which is responsible for the maintenance of law and order, the prevention and detection of crime, the investigation of alleged crimes, the protection of life and property and the enforcement of all criminal laws as defined by the Jamaican penal code. The JCF also provides general assistance to the public, as needed. By adherance to their Citizens' Charter, the JCF endeavours to serve its citizens in general service and through the impartial, transparent enforcement of law and order.
The history of in Jamaica began in 1716 when night watchmen were appointed to serve the cities of Port Royal, Kingston, and the parishes of Saint Catherine and Saint Andrew. In 1832 the first attempt to establish a permanent police force began, and William Ramsay was appointed Inspector General of the police force in 1835. This force continued in service until 1865, the year of the Morant Bay Rebellion. This uprising demonstrated the vulnerability of peace and law on Jamaica and caused the establishment of an improved police force, the Jamaica Constabulary Force. The force began operation with 984 members, under the direction of an Inspector General appointed by the British Governor to the island, and continues to carry out police duties to the present day.
The JCF has a total of 45 organisational units. 18 of these units are:
There are 11 ranks in the JCF. They are (in order of highest to lowest):
Gazetted ranks
| Rank | Commissioner | Deputy Commissioner | Assistant Commissioner | Senior Superintendent |
| Insignia |
| Rank | Superintendent | Deputy Superintendent | Assistant Superintendent |
| Insignia |
Non-gazetted ranks
| Rank | Inspector | Sergeant | Corporal | Constable |
| Insignia | --> | No badges assigned |
A white, high-collared tunic is sometimes worn by all ranks on ceremonial occasions, with blue/black peaked cap and trousers.
Members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force are trained at the Jamaica Police Academy in Twickenham Park, Spanish Town, St. Catherine. Recruits undergo a minimum of four months' basic training. Students are required to sit three written examinations and twelve practical tests. They are exposed to on-the-job training through visits to selected police stations and R.M. courts. Upon completion of basic training, they are transferred to various divisions (where they are placed under supervision of the Divisional Training Duty Sub-Officer) to continue their two-year probationary training. At the end of 18 months' service, probationary officers return to the Jamaica Police Academy for an additional five weeks of training. Thereafter, they return to their divisions to complete the probationary period.
The Jamaican police have a history of extra-judicial killings.[1] In 2003 the Crime Management Unit (CMU), headed by the controversial Reneto Adams, was disbanded following allegations that it was "Jamaica's version of Dirty Harry".[2] Adams was acquitted of shooting four people in an alleged extrajudicial execution.[3] In a climate of gang warfare, cops with a record of killing gangsters (such as Keith "Trinity" Gardner, noted for shooting several members of the Stone Crusher gang[4] and Cornwall "Bigga" Ford,[5] who was on the scene at the alleged killing of seven 15–20-year-old youths in Braeton in 2001) become folk heroes.[6] The police team was searching for suspects who had earlier killed a teacher in cold blood, and a policeman a few months earlier.
Per capita killings by the JCF are among the highest in the world. With a population of less than three million, police killed 140 people each year in the 1990s[1]—five times the death rate in 1990s South Africa. Current rates may be as many as 300 per year.[7] This makes Jamaica’s police force "among the deadliest in the world".[8] On July 31, 2010, three policemen were arrested after they were filmed beating (and then shooting to death) an unarmed murder suspect, Ian Lloyd, in Buckfield, St. Ann; Lloyd was lying on the ground, writhing and apparently helpless. The footage was shown on TVJ television news July 30, 2010. Initial police reports were at variance with the actions shown in the amateur-video footage later released.[9]
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