Served and unprotected

After nearly three decades protecting the public, retired Jamaican police officer Marlon Campbell* sits at home, sometimes unable to pay his light bill. He gave his working life to the State, but more than four years after leaving the force, he has not received his final pension letter and the full pension he is entitled to remains unpaid.

“It’s one of the things where you leave now and you have regrets. It is that bad,” said the retiree, who served over two decades in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) before retiring almost a decade ago.

Campbell’s experience has become a window into a wider problem affecting scores of former members of the force, several of whom say delays in processing pensions and other benefits have left them financially strained and, in some cases, destitute.

“I have to be begging my family members to pay my light bill, pay my Internet bill, and all of that,” said the ex-cop, who did not want to be named for fear of any blowback.

“My insurances, they’re gone. I don’t have a health scheme because you don’t get any money to pay,” he said, noting that an interim payment meant to run until the final payment is not sufficient, especially with health conditions and depleted savings.

Campbell’s story is one of many behind the more than 300 files that were at various stages of processing up to February this year, the Ministry of National Security and Peace (MNSP) said.

In 2024, then-Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson acknowledged an average attrition rate of around 450 members annually, mostly through resignations and retirements.

The situation, according to Campbell and five other former officers who spoke with The Sunday Gleaner, reflects a systemic failure by the Government to honour its financial obligations to the men and women who answer the call to serve in the police force. All six, some of whom resigned, are awaiting payments of outstanding amounts.

Upon separation from the JCF – whether through retirement or resignation – former members are entitled to outstanding leave payments, pension contributions, and in the case of those who served under 10 years, a payment for unused leave. There may be other entitlements and deceased members’ families are also eligible for benefits.

The submission and processing, which includes auditing and verification, runs through the JCF and the MNSP.

Campbell said he cannot reconcile how a system that received his retirement documentation a full year in advance can still leave a retired officer without a final pension determination several years later.

“Can’t see for the life of me. Can’t see why. Everybody knows when you’re going to retire. Dem get the document one year before,” he said. “Why is it they send you on leave and you’re unable to get what you’re to get?”

The answer, he and others have discovered, lies largely with one bottleneck: the internal audit process.

A former officer – Jay Reid* – said he applied for his outstanding pension contributions and benefits about five years ago following his resignation. He said his file reached the Finance Branch some time in 2022. More than three years later, he is still waiting.

Few audit professionals

“The delays in processing these files, according to the staff, [are caused because] the Government has few audit professionals so that process can take years before the auditor confirms how much should be paid,” he said. “An official told me that the process is the process and I should be patient.”

His patience has been tested further by what he witnessed around him.

“Throughout this time, I have seen several former police officers who applied for the same outstanding benefit use connections in the Ministry of National Security to expedite the process and have received payments,” he told The Sunday Gleaner.

The allegation of queue-jumping is corroborated, at least anecdotally, by Campbell. He eventually received a letter after making a call through a personal contact, six months after he expected to have received it.

“I know people. So I called and they were shocked that I didn’t call before. But I don’t see that I should use my connection as preference,” he said. “We are all in the same boat … . We all retired and we all out there having the same kind of expenses.”

A third former officer, who resigned from the JCF, said the Government should know that the timely payment of outstanding amounts is not a gift.

“This is not a favour; this is your entitlement,” she said. “Is like a push thing. You haffi a beg people; it is really ridiculous.”

The state of affairs has prompted the Jamaica Police Federation, a union representing rank-and-file JCF members, to formally escalate the matter. It has written to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security and Peace Dr Horace Chang requesting an urgent meeting.

“We got a response that an early date will be shared because this has to be fixed,” said Federation Chairman Sergeant Arleen McBean, who pointed to a formal investigation by the union in 2024-2025 that was prompted by the volume of complaints from officers and retirees in distress.

“We had members coming to the office of the Federation, crying, explaining that they’re unable to take care of themselves and their families, especially retirees who have served the country well for over 40 years,” McBean said.

Temporary measures

Temporary measures were put in place following meetings with the ministry, she said, acknowledging the involvement of Chang and Permanent Secretary Ambassador Alison Stone Roofe.

But the complaints have not stopped, and in the interim, the Federation has become an unofficial financial lifeline.

It spends, on average, $15 million annually supporting former members, primarily retirees, who cannot meet basic needs while waiting on the State. In the calendar year 2025 alone, 95 retirees accessed medical reimbursement and medical assistance benefits through the Federation, McBean disclosed.

That figure does not yet include those receiving support for dialysis, chemotherapy, or radiation treatment, as the Federation said those calculations were still being finalised at the time of this report.

The Federation extends full-member benefits to retirees for five years post-separation.

“We can’t allow them to suffer like that,” said McBean, who is proposing digitised benefit calculations, permanent processing structures, and what she described as “swift movement” on outstanding payments.

“We need an immediate fix to the outstanding benefits that need to be paid to members who have been separated from the Jamaica Constabulary Force. We need that to be fixed with some form of alacrity,” she said.

The MNSP, in responses to questions submitted by The Sunday Gleaner, acknowledged the backlog and pointed to recent structural changes as evidence of progress.

“The MNSP is aware and is seized of the importance of the timely processing of pension files. All reasonable steps have been taken to bolster staffing capacity, further strengthen and streamline the processing of pension ... ,” it said in a response in March.

A specialised pension unit was formalised in 2025, the ministry said, and an online tracking system has been in operation since September of that year. As of February 28, 2026, there were 331 pension files at various stages of processing. The ministry said over 150 files had been finalised over the preceding nine months.

‘Pension Hub’

The ministry said it has also established standard operating procedures for the ‘Pension Hub’ to process files, from assignment through verification and review, within an average of three weeks. The ministry is targeting completion of the current backlog by “late July 2026”.

“Progress is being closely monitored, with files tracked on a weekly basis and strengthened supervisory measures in place,” the ministry stated.

The JCF did not respond to questions submitted by The Sunday Gleaner on February 23.

Campbell, meanwhile, said he currently receives an interim monthly pension of just over $100,000, a figure he describes as the initial, lower payment that precedes the final pension determination. That final determination, which would increase his monthly income, has not come.

“I think within a year, you should be getting your full pension. You shouldn’t be waiting two years for it,” he said.

The interim payment structure – a lump sum advance followed by a monthly amount – is meant to sustain retirees while their files are finalised.

But Campbell and others say that when outstanding loans and basic bills consume the lump sum, and the monthly interim payment falls short of living costs, the gap becomes a daily crisis.

“Until they understand the real essence or importance of being a retired person and your expenses,” Campbell said, “you shouldn’t be crawling on your knees or anybody’s knees to get what is lawfully yours.”

“You know how much people dead left their money? I didn’t know it was so bad … . For days I stay in my house and cry because I don’t know where to turn.”

Names changed to protect identities.*

editorial@gleanerjm.com