Communication gaps being tightened in JCF
Published:Thursday | October 26, 2023 | 12:08 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Dr Horace Chang, deputy prime minister and minister of national security, says work on upgrading the police telecommunication system is nearing completion. As a consequence, he said, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) will be equipped with an improved end-to-end communication system before the end of the current financial year.
“We are expanding the network of connectivity to ensure that all police stations will have effective connectivity and we can execute,” Chang told police inspectors at the Inspectors Symposium in Montego Bay on Wednesday.
He noted that, along with police stations that are now being upgraded, new ones under construction will have an effective management system.
“The government has set out to upgrade the entire 25 radio systems and, by the end of this financial year, the police will have communications from end to end in Jamaica for the first time, not only effective policing, but end-to-end communications,” Chang said.
The national security minister says that, in the modern world, it is practically impossible to function without that kind of connectivity.
Chang shared that he observed police officers using their personal laptops to input and store critical data, which is not the appropriate course of operation. However, the minister promised to reduce this practice over time with the provision of appropriate equipment.
“I know some police officers will continue to use their laptops but we will ensure that they have the basic infrastructure that is required to maintain productivity and communication,” Chang stated.
He noted that transportation and communication are critical elements in maintaining the police’s presence in communities, and assured Jamaicans that it can work and that the government has procured over 1,400 vehicles for the police.
“Police vehicles, they are not just Mitsubishi and Toyota pick-ups. They are equipped with with appropriate policing tools. The police now have a policing vehicle, not just another vehicle driving around,” Chang said.
Citing a recently conducted survey, Chang said the most welcome sight in the toughest inner-city areas is police patrol vehicles.
Since 2019, the government has invested over $600 million to retool and upgrade the telecommunication systems of the JCF, a process Chang says will lead to improvements islandwide that will provide the police with quality communications in both its mobile and fixed network systems.