All police stations to go digital – Antony Anderson

Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson has said that by the end of the current financial year all police stations will be digital, doing away with the old method of logbooks.

Already, according to the police commissioner, 10 stations are already online and the rest will be upgraded.

“We will do away with the big diary that the police now use,” he said.

Anderson said that this will allow for the connecting of police stations to have instant updates on crimes committed.

This, he said, will enable the mapping of crimes in Jamaica not just by time of day, but by patterns.

Anderson was speaking at the ‘Jamaica Connect’ town hall meeting hosted by Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States, Audrey Marks.

Noting that policing in Jamaica “has always been a tough thing”, the police commissioner said that efforts are under way to change the Jamaica Constabulary Force, which is developing in a way that most people are unaware of.

Giving an example, the Commissioner said that the hand-held devices use by the traffic police are now digitalised, enabling the officer to be instantly aware if the person stopped for a traffic offence has outstanding issues.

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He pointed out that a lot of investment is being made to upgrade the force technologically.

Pointing out that the police force now number 12,000 men and women, Commissioner Anderson said that the goal is to have a force of some 15,000 men and women.

He said that because of the COVID pandemic, the force lost two years of recruitment, but that some 700 new recruits have graduated from the Police Academy this year.

Speaking specifically about murders in Jamaica, the police commissioner pointed to the fact that 16 per cent of murders committed were stemmed from interpersonal issues.

He further disclosed that the JCF now operates some 10 domestic violence centres, with plans to provide more such facilities

The police commissioner was in the United States accompanying Prime Minister Andrew Holness for meetings with the US Department of Justice and members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

He said that the meetings were to update and have discussions with Jamaica’s partners on national security issues.

“The meetings gave us the opportunity to interface with our US partners,” he said.

Turning to the use of states of emergency (SOEs) in Jamaica, the police commissioner said that the frequency of the use of SOEs is unfortunate.

But he said that SOEs provide the security forces with additional tools to combat organised criminal activities in Jamaica which, he reasoned, pose a threat to life on a significant scale.

Commissioner Anderson said that the crime rate has fallen wherever SOEs have been imposed.