From command to diplomacy
Anderson says SOEs were necessary tactical moves to rebalance streets
Published:Sunday | May 25, 2025 | 12:07 AMJanet Silvera - Sunday Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Few tools in Jamaica’s crime-fighting arsenal have been more debated than the use of states of emergency (SOEs). However, for former Commissioner of Police Major General (Ret’d) Antony Anderson, their implementation was not a political ploy or a shortcut; it was a strategic necessity.
“We were trying to bring murders down rapidly,” Anderson reflected in a Sunday Gleaner interview two weeks ago. “The force was too small, too poorly equipped. The SOEs gave us breathing room.”
When Anderson took the reins in 2018, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) was struggling to contain surging violence. Murders were tracking towards record highs, the country’s limited policing resources spread thin, and efforts to grow the force were moving too slowly to meet the moment.
“We weren’t training enough people to build the bigger force we needed,” Anderson explained. “So we used what we had, and SOEs became essential to stabilising the environment.”
The objective wasn’t indefinite military policing, he said, but short-term pressure to reduce violent outbreaks and regain operational control. Anderson saw them as a means to reset the balance – fast.
A key challenge in gang-dominated communities was the chain reaction of reprisal killings.
To break that cycle
“A lot of murders and shootings are caused by reprisals,” Anderson said. “To break that cycle, you have to act quickly.”
SOEs, he argued, created the time and space for law enforcement to disrupt those patterns and prevent further bloodshed.
Anderson emphasised that SOEs weren’t meant to stand alone. They worked in tandem with legislative updates and internal restructuring.
“We started using the anti-gang legislation more effectively. It was no longer just two guys in a car; we were bringing entire gangs before the courts: 20, 30, even 40 people at a time. That changed the dynamic.”
At the same time, the JCF expanded training infrastructure from one to four academies and introduced ISO 9001 standards. The emergency measures provided the cover to execute long-term reforms.
Two Fridays ago – and after Anderson sat with The Sunday Gleaner – the Constitutional Court ruled that multiple SOEs declared by the Government between 2018 and 2023 were unconstitutional. The court found that SOEs declared on 15 separate dates – including January 2018, March 2018, April 2019, June 2020, and as recently as February 2023 – were not made for a constitutionally valid purpose, were not demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society, and were inconsistent with the Jamaican Constitution.
Critics of SOEs often cite civil liberties concerns and question their long-term effectiveness.
Anderson doesn’t dismiss the controversy, but stands by the decisions.
“It was not ideal, but neither was losing 1,600 lives a year,” he said. “We couldn’t wait. We had to act.”
His argument is clear: while SOEs should not become a default, they are legitimate instruments in extraordinary circumstances, and in Jamaica’s context, 2018 was nothing short of that.
Now Jamaica’s ambassador to the United States, Anderson looks back on the decisions of his tenure with the clarity of a strategist.
“SOEs alone won’t fix crime. But in the right context, they create space for everything else to work,” he told The Sunday Gleaner.
For Anderson, the goal was never just containment, but transformation. And sometimes, transformation starts with pressure.
“You can’t build a future unless you first stop the bleeding.”
But SOEs were just the tip of the iceberg in the life of the man who served both the JCF and the Jamaica Defence Force. His roles will go down in history as transformational.
Proudest achievements
One of his proudest achievements? The zones of special operations (ZOSOs).
“It just put the notion of a more holistic approach to security and crime violence on the table,” he said. “It brought it front and centre.”
Anderson spearheaded the development of ZOSOs during his tenure as national security advisor in 2016, a pivotal moment when violence was climbing and traditional strategies were falling short. His office was tasked with creating solutions to meet new International Monetary Fund security benchmarks, a first in Jamaica’s economic history where crime reduction became intertwined with financial reform.
“The Government needed someone to make sure we hit those benchmarks,” Anderson recalled. “So we set up the office quickly and focused on making something work.”
ZOSO became that something. It wasn’t the first time Jamaica had tried pairing security presence with social support. In 2003, similar efforts were rolled out in Hannah Town and Denham Town, and again later in Mountain View – all in the Corporate Area. But those earlier efforts eventually collapsed under the weight of their own inconsistency.
“What caused them to end was the social component never kept up,” Anderson explained. “There was no legal requirement to maintain it.”
The genius of ZOSO, Anderson argues, lies in its legal architecture.
“The law made it mandatory to do the social side,” he said. “That’s the difference. It couldn’t be neglected anymore.”
Under ZOSO, communities designated as high-risk would receive a calibrated mix of security operations and sustained social investment. The result: a decline in homicides and a restoration of public trust in areas long forgotten.
“The numbers are the numbers. There were fewer people being killed in those areas. And people started to see what was possible when intervention was balanced.”
Prior to the implementation of ZOSO, Jamaica’s murder rate was among the highest in the world. In 2016, the country recorded 1,350 murders, an alarming figure that increased to 1,647 in 2017. However, following the launch of ZOSO later that year, there was a gradual reversal.
By 2018, murders dropped to 1,289 and continued to decline in subsequent years; 1,340 in 2019 and 1,333 in 2020. Though fluctuations remained, the downward trend signalled some success.
Most notably, in early 2025, Jamaica is seeing a dramatic 41.5 per cent reduction in murders and a 21.6 per cent decline in overall major crimes from January to May compared to the previous year, one of the most significant improvements in a decade.
A 2022 Gleaner article marking the five-year anniversary of ZOSO in Denham Town quoted a resident saying, “If it wasn’t for the ZOSO, I couldn’t be out here standing and talking to you right now.” The quote underscored a sentiment echoed by many who had lived through years of violence and now felt a renewed sense of safety.
Over $450 million has since been invested in Denham Town in social programmes, infrastructure, and support for micro-enterprises. Senior Superintendent Michael Phipps then noted a marked decline in murders and shootings, attributing the change to sustained presence and community initiatives under ZOSO.
Still, not everyone is satisfied.
“We need more job creation, more follow-up,” said Omar Clarke, a welder in Parade Gardens. “If the support dries up, everything could fall apart again.”
Anderson agrees.
“It was never meant to be rushed,” he said. “It was meant to be right.”
Most significant national security reforms
Today, ZOSO is regarded as one of Jamaica’s most significant national security reforms of the past decade. For Anderson, the lessons extend beyond Jamaica.
“Public safety isn’t just about police or soldiers. It is about dignity, opportunity, and giving people a stake in peace. That’s what ZOSO tried to do.”
From crime scenes to community centres, Anderson’s approach has always favoured structure, balance, and long-term vision. With ZOSO, he did not just reshape policy. He reimagined what safety could look like in Jamaica’s most vulnerable spaces.
“You can’t secure a nation with force alone. You have to secure its future.”
Now, as Jamaica’s ambassador to the United States, Anderson takes with him more than titles; he brings a proven philosophy of structured transformation. From creating operational centres with predictive capabilities to implementing laws that forced balanced community intervention, he understands statecraft in action.
“Diplomacy is a different terrain, but the fundamentals remain the same,” he said. “It’s about building partnerships, understanding the environment, and working towards sustainable outcomes.”