Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
Phillips ... expected to request further assistance. - FILE
THE UNITED Kingdom Government has pledged to continue its technical and financial support to the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).
Gareth Thomas, junior minister in the U.K. Department For International Development (DFID), said Tuesday that there was still a long way to go, but that his Government would stay the course.
He was speaking to The Gleaner ahead of the fifth UK/Caribbean Forum on Crime and Security in Barbados which began on Wednesday.
Dr. Peter Phillips, Minister of National Security, who is in Barbados, is expected to request further assistance from the U.K., arguing that security is linked to development. Mr. Thomas said he agreed with this linkage.
He said he was particularly encouraged by a visit to Hunts Bay Police Station, to witness community policing, and following recent arrests of high-profile dons.
He also acknowledged that the cooperation had benefited the U.K., a form of 'enlightened self-interest' previously acknowledged by the British Ggovernment.
"We are very clear as the Department for International Development and as the U.K. Government that investing in improving policing here (in Jamaica) has been effective in reducing criminality in the U.K," he said.
By the end of 2004 the U.K. Government was reporting that Operation Kingfish, which involves British police and the Royal Navy, had cut the flow of cocaine from Colombia into the Caribbean by 80 per cent.
Asked if the U.K. would increase their funding, Mr. Thomas said: "We have got a project under way (the cooperation) in Jamaica and we will see how that works before that is increased. We will keep it under review and we'll make further funding decisions based on analysis."
Policing initiatives receiving UK funding and technical assistance:
Operation Kingfish
Operation Airbridge
Community Security Initiative (CSI)
Recruitment of overseas officers
