Steve makes way for Dahlia
Published:Friday | January 9, 2015 | 12:34 PMCorey Robinson
After almost 20 years of handling communication in the Jamaica Constabulary Force, Superintendent Steve Brown is moving into operational policing, confident that he has the training and temperament to be successful in crime fighting.
Brown, who has long been the face of the force while providing the country with information on major operations and blood-curdling crimes, will move to the St Ann Police Division on Thursday as the second in command.
"The plan is to bring the crime rate down, build good community relations, and to build on the legacy and on the template that I have seen working in the area," said Brown.
"Policing is always a challenge in Jamaica, and in St Ann Ö I will just have to work with the people. Community policing is going to be very important," reasoned Brown, as he added that a continued strategy must be to improve the relationship between the police and the schools, churches and other groups in the parish.
Brown has spent 16 years in the information arm of the force, breaking his tenure once to serve as information officer at Operation Kingfish.
He holds a degree in public relations from the University of the West Indies and a master's from Goldsmiths, University of London.
TIME TO MOVEON
"I am a career police officer, so therefore, you don't expect me to stay in communication for the rest of my life," said Brown during a farewell visit to The Gleaner Company last week.
"Working with the media has been tremendous, but there comes a time when you really have to move on," he said. "It's a change that you have to expect as long as you go up in the ranks. It's more operational police work, but I am a trained police officer."
Brown will be replaced at Corporate Communication Unit (CCU) by Inspector Dahlia Garrick, who previously served that unit but since 2012 has been the information officer at the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA).
"I am leaving a qualified set of individuals there, members who are qualified in media and communication," said Brown in reference to the CCU. "We have moved away from a crime-reporting desk to more information about the police, to highlighting the work that the police are doing."
In the meantime, Garrick, who worked at the information unit from 1999-2008, said she is excited to return to the CCU.
"Communication is an effective tool for an organisation and I intend to build on the gains made at CCU through effective communication over the years," said Garrick.
"In addition to informing the public of what's going on, it is also good to inform them of the work that the police are doing. It helps the partnership against crime."