Proud police personnel march at the Independence Day ceremony at King's House on Thursday, August 6. - Rudolph Brown/Photographer
A top cop will be chosen from nine finalists and presented with his award at a special function to be held at the Hilton hotel today.
The selection process was done routinely Islandwide and included nominations from peers.
A nominee must be an active member of the force, up to age forty and have at least five years service. Additionally, the person must possess good work ethics, good conduct, must be outstanding, committed, dedicated, established and maintain a good working relationship with the citizenry as well as co-workers.
Other factors include being involved in initiatives at the community and national levels and must have good knowledge of the policies and programmes of the force and the laws that govern it.
For filling those shoes, Jamaica's top cop will walk away with $200,000, a trophy, a gift basket among other prizes.
Second place will be given $150,000, a trophy and a gift basket while the third-place person will have earned $50,000.
The cops come from several geographic divisions across the island. One person is selected and sent to Kingston, where the contestants had a full week of activities including courtesy calls and visits to infirmaries. On the final day, they went before a panel, which interviewed them, then selected the winners.
Today, there will be nine who go up against each other for the top cop position.
Finalists
1. Constable Garfield Thomas -
2. Corporal Errol Craig - Area 2
3. Constable Dwayne Card - Area 3
4. Constable Donohue Crossman
5. Detective Sergeant Orlando Lewis - Area 5
6. Corporal Kevin Foster -
7. Corporal Marcus Bennett - Operations Portfolio
8. Sergeant Fitzgerald Gayle -
9. Corporal Audley Wright - Mobile Reserve.