Knight feared JCF-ISCF merger
Published:Wednesday | March 5, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Livern Barrett, Gleaner Writer
Former National Security Minister K.D. Knight revealed yesterday that during his tenure, he resisted a recommendation by a specially appointed task force to merge the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) because he felt "it was always good to have a backup".
The recommendation was contained in the 1993 report of the Justice Lensley Wolfe-chaired National Task Force on Crime, but Knight said for national security reasons at the time, he "did not think it was a good thing".
"I thought it was better to have two separate groups because you never know what can happen," Knight said, as he sought to explain his opposition to the proposed merger then.
"Ninety per cent of the recommendations [in the Wolfe report] dealing with [the then Ministry of] National Security and Justice had been implemented, but that was not one of them that we thought was best and for the reasons I have stated," he told The Gleaner.
Knight's disclosure followed the announcement by the incumbent national security minister, Peter Bunting, that Cabinet has approved the merging of the JCF and the ISCF.
Knight said he accepted that circumstances "may have changed", and as a result, he neither agreed nor disagreed with the new policy.
"I simply accept it as it is and form the view that it was well thought through," he said.
The proposed merger, which will see the 2,052 members of the ISCF being absorbed into the JCF during the 2014-2015 financial year, has, however, drawn the full support of Police Commissioner Owen Ellington, ISCF Commandant James Golding and the country's parliamentary Opposition.
NO MERGER FEARS
Golding told The Gleaner he did not believe the men and women under his command harbour any fear about the merger, and gave assurance that he would ensure that their rights are protected throughout the transition process.
"I am fully in support of the merger because it will make the police service more efficient to deliver the high standard of service required by the Jamaican people," Golding said.
Derrick Smith, opposition spokesman on national security, said despite the personnel challenges, the merger would ensure that more people are on the ground "under one command and having one objective".
"And that will be advantageous," Smith asserted.
Ellington noted that the existence of the two organisations - performing similar and, in some cases, identical functions - presented several operational challenges.
As a result, he said merging both entities would result in significant efficiency gains, such as the implementation of a single command and communication structure, the elimination of duplication in administrative services, and the expansion of the skills sets of police personnel through the unification of training programmes.