Horace Chang | Plan Secure Jamaica – fighting the crime monster

One of the most fundamental responsibilities of any government is to provide for its citizenry a sense of safety, peace, order and certainty within their communities.

In other words, it is providing citizens with a feeling of security and freedom from fear and anxiety as they go about their social, economic, cultural and political endeavours. This essentially denotes national security, which involves a series of activities that are directly concerned with achieving reductions in all criminal activities.

UNSOPHISTICATED PERSPECTIVE

Over the past 30 years or so, as a country, we have failed to treat national security with the level of sophistication that we ought to have. This is despite the fact that Jamaica is an island state that is strategically located about halfway between two large continents and boasts a huge economic zone.

As a result of this unsophisticated perspective of national security, there has been a high level of disinvestment in our security apparatus over many years. This meant that the magnitude of investment that was required to restore the capacity of the security forces was enormous. It also meant that this kind of expenditure would require detailed analysis and planning.

As far back as 2016, when we came to office, we recognised that this need existed and we set about in a very systematic way to change this situation. As a government, we developed a comprehensive plan to ensure Jamaica’s defence against any criminal threat or vulnerability. This broad plan was called Plan Secure Jamaica.

GOALS AND STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

Plan Secure Jamaica is the country’s first holistic security plan and the most enduring security programme that has ever been put in place in Jamaica, for the purposes of:

• strengthening the country’s capabilities to appropriately and effectively respond to the current and emerging threats to its security;

• building robustness and resilience to protect against the effects of threats and hazards; and

• deterring or otherwise preventing criminal actors

Plan Secure Jamaica is geared towards creating a safe, secure, cohesive and just society, which is strategically aligned to the second National Goal of Vision 2030 Jamaica and Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This whole-of-government plan focuses on ten strategic priority areas. These are:

1. Violence and crime

2. Public order

3. Corruption

4. Community safety

5. Territorial integrity and securing the Blue Economy

6. Crisis response and resilience

7. Justice

8. Cyber defence

9. Critical infrastructure protection

10. Economic security

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

The achievement of the goals of Plan Secure Jamaica and Vision 2030 Jamaica continues to be a major focus of this Government. In furtherance of this, the Government has been delivering on six strategic objectives. These are:

1) Strengthening the national security architecture;

2) Strengthening the criminal justice system;

3) Enhancing youth and community development;

4) Protecting and securing borders, maritime space, and key sectors of the economy;

5) Strengthening the national integrity systems; and

6) Increasing and sustaining public support for law enforcement and public order

KEY COMPONENTS

Consequently, over the past five years, several programmes and initiatives have been undertaken to give full effect to Plan Secure Jamaica in order to reduce crime and restore public order to acceptable levels. Some of the key initiatives are:

• Transforming the security forces – this involves:

• expansion of the security forces in terms of numbers;

• organisational restructuring;

• improvement in the telecommunications systems and intelligence gathering;

• integration, expansion and upgrading of technological systems and digitisation;

• improvement in transportation with the development of fit-for-purpose vehicles;

• improvement to the physical infrastructure, namely police stations;

• expansion and improvement in training programmes;

• provision of adequate personal accoutrements, such as uniform, vests, helmets, and non-lethal weapons;

• cybersecurity and intelligence-driven anti-gang operations;

• development of a full logistic and planning department in the JCF; and

• adoption of international service standards (ISO 9001)

• Strengthening the legislative framework – this includes:

• the Zone of Special Operations legislation;

• amendment to the “Anti-Gang” Act;

• the new Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022;

• legislation to establish MOCA as a fully independent law enforcement agency;

• amendment to the Corrections Act;

• the proposed new Bail Bill;

• amendment to the Proceeds of Crime Act and further changes that will follow;

• amendment to the Finger Print Act; and

• the selected use of states of public emergency (SOEs)

• Executing the Citizen Security Plan (CSP) – the CSP, which is a thematic component of Plan Secure Jamaica, is crucial in creating the necessary institutional arrangements to ensure a sustainable, well-coordinated, whole-of-government approach to social investment and social transformation. This is being enhanced through the Citizen Security Business Group, the Citizen Security Secretariat, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and the Ministry of National Security, playing a guiding role. It also involves coordinating interventions with the private sector, such as Project STAR, in selected communities.

• Creating a presence and control in the cyber domain – as a government, we have ensured that calculated steps are taken to give us a presence in the new and emerging domain of cyber.

• Building up our domain control and awareness – as a government, we have made massive investments in things such as offshore vessels and maritime patrol aircraft, to ensure that we have the capacity to offer improved border security and protection in our waters, while moving to build up our blue economy.

And so, the frequent call from some quarters of the society, for a “crime plan”, is not just a misnomer, but it typifies the unsophisticated viewpoint that is held by some, about national security.

In future articles, I will articulate in greater detail, all the plans we are executing in each of the key components of Plan Secure Jamaica in order to reduce crime and ensure a safer place for all law abiding citizens.

- Dr. Horace Chang is Jamaica’s deputy prime minister and minister of national security. He is also a member of parliament for North West St James and a medical doctor by profession. Send feedback to securityminister@mns.gov.jm