According to Jamaica’s Prime Minister, the Government has taken firm and deliberate steps to harden the national security architecture. Which will ensure that Jamaica does not become a haven for organized criminal groups.
“This is so that a drug cartel or a crime syndicate does not have uncontested access to use Jamaica as a transshipment hub. It means it must become more difficult for these organized criminals/groups to gain access to our ports, corrupt our law-enforcement officers… and bring guns into Jamaica,” he noted.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness
The Prime Minister noted that once we close the loopholes, we will see a meaningful reduction in the street-level crime that the average person experiences.
The Prime Minister was the main speaker at a National Security seminar hosted by the Office of the National Security Advisor at the AC Hotel in Kingston on January 12.
Prime Minister Holness noted that the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) structure has been strengthened while the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) undergoes structural reform.
“They have done their strategic defense review…; which sets out how the JDF should transform itself to meet the challenges of the next decade or so. We are also increasing the capacity of the Major Organised Crime & Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA). And it is “emerging nicely as a strong, robust law-enforcement and investigative body equipped to tackle high-level crime and corruption.”
Prime Minister Andrew Holness
Relative to recruiting new personnel, The PM said the JDF is close to 8,000 members, but the goal is to get to 10,000.
With regard to the JCF, Mr. Holness noted that last year, the force trained more than 1,350 new police officers.
He also stated further that the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) and the Passport, Immigration & Citizenship Agency (PICA) are being modernized to assist in crime-fighting.