How Quickly They Prove Me Right…

Only a day after I pub­lished an essay linked below, chastis­ing the police high com­mand for inep­ti­tude, incom­pe­tence, and gross neg­li­gence lead­ing to the death of Constable Rushane Lee, the Minister of National Security had the nerve to tell the local media the following: “.
https://​mike​beck​les​.com/​c​o​n​s​t​a​b​l​e​-​r​u​s​h​a​n​e​-​l​e​e​s​-​d​e​a​t​h​-​a​-​f​a​i​l​u​r​e​-​o​f​-​j​c​f​-​l​e​a​d​e​r​s​h​i​p​-​c​o​m​p​e​t​e​n​ce/

If a man com­mits a crime, we have to appre­hend and pros­e­cute him, but there is a path to get there. The police must not only be pro­vid­ed with the right tools to be able to quick­ly appre­hend the per­pe­tra­tors — mean­ing inves­tiga­tive tools and mobil­i­ty and com­mu­ni­ca­tion — but they also have to win the trust of the community.”
Duh, rolls eyes in disgust!!!
The fact that this archa­ic and obvi­ous point is com­ing from the high­est lev­el of the National Security Apparatus proves that the police depart­ment is unpre­pared to deal with the most basic of the nation’s nation­al secu­ri­ty needs.
To his cred­it, Horace Chang spoke to the need for train­ing, say­ing: “The trans­for­ma­tion not only involves increased num­bers but pro­vides a dif­fer­ent approach to train­ing and the over­all change in cul­ture where we expect to devote the high­est lev­el of professionalism.
Whatever that means.
Many read­ers have pushed back at me for insist­ing that the train­ing of the Jamaican police is insuf­fi­cient and needs to be revamped for a more prac­ti­cal train­ing reg­i­men, one that gives offi­cers the nec­es­sary tac­tics to deal with the threats they will cer­tain­ly face.
The train­ing, or lack there­of, is evi­dent in offi­cers’ actions when try­ing to effect arrests.
Chang’s men­tion of train­ing vin­di­cates this writer even as it ques­tions the integri­ty and verac­i­ty of those who insist the train­ing is appropriate.

According to one dai­ly pub­li­ca­tion, Chang cred­it­ed the JCF with its strides in improv­ing pub­lic per­cep­tion, thanks part­ly to its online presence. 
The JCF made his­to­ry in 2023, becom­ing the first law enforce­ment enti­ty to be nom­i­nat­ed for and win the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) Excellence in Marketing Award. Chang told the media.
Ha ha… that ever­last­ing need to cre­ate false per­cep­tions was the goal of the JCF decades ago; it is the goal of the JCF today.
I spoke about that just one day ago, ‘the JCF is still an agency stuck on form, regur­gi­tat­ing and wal­low­ing in the archa­ic func­tions of the colo­nial era while ignor­ing the sub­stance of its core mis­sion. This effec­tive­ly makes the JCF decrepit the equiv­a­lent of an old build­ing with rot­ting walls and a new coat of paint.’
How quick­ly they always prove me right.….

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Mike Beckles is a for­mer Police Detective, busi­ness­man, free­lance writer, black achiev­er hon­oree, and cre­ator of the blog mike​beck​les​.com.