Shields

SEVEN DAYS after telling The Gleaner in an interview that he and the other British cops were not brought to Jamaica to "solve the crime problem", the country's crime chief, Mark Shields, said yesterday his statement was taken out of context.

"I have consistently stated that no one person can solve the crime problem in Jamaica. We have a collective responsibility to achieve that aim," Shields said in a release.

Below is Shield's verbatim response to whether he was comfortable with the dent in crime he and the other British cops have been able to make.

Here is what DCP Shields said to The Gleaner

Shields: No, absolutely not. I am not comfortable at all. I think that far more can be achieved by everybody. But as I have said, you cannot expect any one individual or small group, whether it is Government, police or whoever, to actually make a dent.

The dent is not going to be made by any persons, or police or small group.

The dent is going to be made by everybody and a complete cultural change and it is going to take years.

We didn't come here to solve the crime problem and I think it is one thing I would want to be quoted on.

We were not brought here to solve the crime problem. We were brought here to assist in the modernisation of the JCF and I believe that we have played a critical role in that.

But at no time did somebody say to me, 'We would like you to come here and solve the crime problem because frankly, again quote, I would have laughed and said, 'Well, under those conditions, I could not accept the job'.

But the conditions, let's say the objectives, are very clear: to assist in the modernisation of the JCF and I think we have done a lot to that and I could go into all sorts of examples which I don't really want to do at the moment because I am literally driving a car.