Rohan Smith is LASCO/Jamaica Constabulary Force top cop
Published:Monday | October 31, 2022 | 12:06 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
Police Corporal Rohan Smith is a highly dedicated individual who places service above self. His overarching goal is to improve society by doing one good deed at a time for the betterment of the nation and its children.
Smith, on Friday, received top honours among his fellow Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) rank-and-file personnel for his significant contributions, as well as for having created a lasting impression at the community level through his work ethic and initiatives.
The ‘top cop’ walked away with the Chairman’s Award at the LASCO/Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) ‘Saluting Our Heroes’ and chairman’s award ceremony, held at the AC hotel in Kingston.
This special ceremony, in light of the JCF’s 155th anniversary, selected 155 top-performing servicemen and women, of which six received special recognition.
Occasionally, Smith flashed his distinctive and charming smile as he beamed with a sense of pride. During a Gleaner interview, the 34-year-old expressed that he is a humanitarian at heart and has an undying love to serve the community at large.
SCHOOLTEACHER
However, he did not originally start off his career path as a police officer. Instead, after gaining a Bachelor’s Degree in history and culture at The Mico University College and later becoming a schoolteacher at Excelsior High School, his true calling was realised a year later.
“As the time goes by you develop a love for a different profession, and policing, I believe, is the true calling, based on the way in which I was able to execute many things,” he said.
In 2014, he joined the JCF, where he was later assigned to the St Ann Division. Just six years later, he was awarded the LASCO Top Cop for the St Ann Division.
The St Elizabeth-born cop has, over the years, developed and spearheaded over 15 active community programmes which have contributed to crime reduction in various ways.
Additionally, the Area 2 officer has performed a number of community safety and security activities, including lectures and presentations at various schools, churches, youth clubs and colleges within St Ann.
He is also a school safety and security officer, founder of the Bamboo Sports Club, events coordinator for the Bamboo Health Committee, leader for the Bamboo Police Youth Club, founder of the Bamboo Police Station Domestic Violence Intervention Programme and the Parents Empowerment Initiative.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith started an initiative, ‘distribution over prosecution’, where he bought masks from his salary and distributed them to those who were seen without, so that they are not prosecuted for violating the Disaster Risk Management Act in effect at the time.
Smith told The Gleaner that his victory came as no surprise because, based on the deciding factors, which included community involvement, he anticipated his wide array of accomplishments would impress and win over the judges.
Going forward, he hopes to continue making a positive impact wherever he goes, and to motivate those who comes across his path.
ASSISTING OTHERS
“It’s all about assisting others to reach their true potential [and] to stay on the path of righteousness,” he said.
“Because I am guided by the philosophy that I cannot do all the good that the world needs, but the world needs all the good [that] I can do ... when I go out and interact with one person, I approach that mission as if I am interacting with the next prime minister of Jamaica, or trying to prevent that person from becoming the most wanted person in Jamaica,” he added.
The Chairman’s Award first-place winner received a cash award of $100,000 and a trophy, along with a range of LASCO gift prizes.
The first runner-up, Woman Sergeant Alsian Clayton of the Area 1 Division , and second runner-up, District Constable Alfred Palmer of Area 4 were awarded a trophy and a cash prize valued at $75, 000 and $50,000, respectively, along with gift tokens from LASCO.
Through initiatives like the annual LASCO/JCF Police Officer of the Year Awards, which have highlighted the work ethic, relationships with the public and team members, involvement in communities, and other social initiatives of the force, the LASCO Chin Foundation, which has collaborated with the JCF for more than 22 years, vows to continue making a significant impact on boosting the morale of constabulary members and the communities they serve.
KEEP MOTIVATING
Lascelles Chin, founder and executive chairman of LASCO Affiliated companies, in his remarks, encouraged officers to keep motivating and inspiring the community members around them, to help them to advance both in their professional and personal lives.
He added that police officers ought to seek to better educate themselves to understand the world around them in which they operate on a daily basis.
Paula Llewellyn, director of public prosecutions, in her keynote address, spoke on what it meant to be “a leader in the trenches”.
She urged cops to uphold the law despite temptations to do otherwise, and to assist with ensuring that communities were law-abiding
“Never forget that you are there to serve the public, not the other way around,” she said.
She urged those in leadership positions to be in sync and work in unity with their subordinates, moving pass the constraints of job positions and seeing all as equals working to achieve one goal.
“It is important that your subordinates see you with your shoulders to the wheel, sometimes with them in the uncomfortable conditions that they have to face; so you have to be there in the trenches, too, with them,” she said.
“You can’t stay in your air-conditioned office ... they must see you from time to time, eating the patty with them, being with them where they have lack of resources and most importantly, using your emotional intelligence to empathise and sympathise; that is how you build morale,” she added.
She also stated that as officers of the law, honour and integrity had to be ingrained in their DNA.