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ACTING COMMISSIONER of Police Owen Ellington could be destined for failure, the Inter-national Narcotics Control Strategy Report said yesterday.

Ellington took over the reins of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) in November 2009 after Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin resigned as commissioner.

The United States report said it was encouraged by Ellington's public stance on eliminating corruption since he assumed the job, but expressed concern that "he could face, as his predecessor did, internal, judicial and political roadblocks that hinder efforts to reform the police".

Commissioner's authority

"In the past, these battles have paralysed the commissioner's authority and ability to effect change on the force," the report said.

It added: "If this continues, Commissioner Ellington's fate could be similar to the previous three police commissioners who, despite the best of intentions, could not secure the necessary legislative support and political will to underscore their reform efforts at a time when murder and other violent crimes threaten to overwhelm the country."

Meanwhile, the report has noted that two years after the strategic review of the police force, the Government "has yet to implement the necessary recommended reforms".

The document claimed the slow pace of reform in the JCF, along with the increasing rate of aggravated crime, led Lewin to tender his resignation.