Having lived on Jamaica for all my life, I have watched the gradual decline in our abilities to implement programmes, solve simple problems and remain focused on specific issues. In recent years, two of the issues that have taken centre stage are corruption in the police force and the impact of garrisons. To these problems, loud and often misguided calls have been made to rid the force of corrupt police personnel and to dismantle the garrisons.

Ridding the force of corrupt cops, I am assuming, means to identify and expel those who are corrupt. However, is this practical or is it another baseless hope that we have allowed ourselves to hang on to? I submit that no individual or group within or outside the force, will be able to go through the JCF and identify the corrupt officers. Acts of corruption will be reduced in the force or any other organisation, when the possibility of detection is extremely high. This, however, is only the first step, as having detected the act, sanctions must then be applied swiftly and without consideration for the status of the offender.

Reward cops

Simultaneously, proper policing must be rewarded. I would shudder at the possibility of having the opportunity to identify those officers who have been promoted or otherwise rewarded, who have had tainted or colourful histories. Corruption needs support and would otherwise die without the collusion of individuals and the systems of policing being employed.

While I applaud the efforts by the police to set up sting operations, how many more will we need to mount? How many more members of the public will need to come forward and say that officer Joe wants money from me? Why not use technology in the form of dash cams etc. to record the activities of police officers? Apply sanctions whenever operations are conducted without cameras running. Why not ensure that there is always communication between central control and the officers before any engagement with criminal elements?

I am not a policeman and know very little about policing; however, my position is that we fight corruption with systems not people. People will act in ways that belie proper behaviour outside of proper boundaries or rules. We will continue to graduate good officers who ultimately become tainted because our system of policing allows it to happen.

A mindset

Similarly, as we call on politicians to dismantle garrison communities, we need to first establish what garrisons really are in the Jamaican context. Are they places or do they represent a mindset. In today's Jamaica, I strongly believe they represent the latter. As such, I ask the question, how do you dismantle a mind? I hear the fallacious argument about the unfulfilled promise to dismantle garrisons. However, if the initial idea was invalid, why do we wish to have it perpetuated? Why do people choose to live in this way? Is it for economic, security or social reasons? If any of these three is true, then the change will only come when as a people we can find ways to help those in garrisons to find the alternative means of meeting these needs. Otherwise, let us forget about the talk of dismantling.

Years ago, I was responsible for a hostel of young men. I was asked by my superiors why these fellows were so destructive and boisterous, and also instructed that I had to do something about it. In response, I asked that my superiors consider what alternative behaviour they expected when these men were required to be crossing rivulets of sewage on their way to the kitchen, or seeing the facility wiped and polished only when rented to outsiders.

When this state changed, so too did the behaviour, as well as the forceful implementation of rules. If this story sounds familiar, then maybe it can be the starting point of a mind change for those in the so-called garrisons.

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