Westmoreland police launch professionalism training after public-conduct complaints

SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Following complaints about how Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) members deal with the public, the Westmoreland Police Division is rolling out instruction aimed at raising standards of conduct and professional behaviour.

Deputy Superintendent Jordaine Allen, the division’s operations officer, told the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation’s monthly general meeting last Thursday that officer development is already under way across the division and will continue from Monday, May 18, 2026. He said he had directed that the opening module cover professionalism and how officers present themselves in daily interactions.

“We are on an ongoing training of our police officers across the division that will commence on Monday [May 18, 2026]. The first topic I instructed them to teach is professionalism — how they conduct themselves,” Allen said.

His remarks followed concerns raised about the quality of soft-skills preparation given to younger JCF members, and about uneven treatment of motorists depending on the vehicles they drive.

Councillor Ian Myles (Jamaica Labour Party, Little London Division) told the meeting that stops can feel harsher when someone is behind the wheel of a car associated with so-called undesirables. “If I’m driving one of the cars… more closely aligned to what the so-called undesirables drive… the reaction that you get when you are stopped [by the police], it’s not in keeping with decent… law-representing practices,” he said.

Myles also said a policeman had recently used abusive language toward a senior female employee of the municipal corporation. The corporation’s offices and parking area sit directly opposite the Westmoreland Police Divisional Headquarters in Savanna-la-Mar.

He described an incident in which an officer parked in a paid bay and responded sharply when approached by a senior section head. “The other day a police parked in one of the paid parking bays and he was spoken to by one of our section heads, a senior officer… a mature woman. The language that came out of that officer’s mouth to the head of the department here, it’s really and truly inexplicable, it’s distasteful,” Myles said.

Allen told councillors the force stands by its commitment to professionalism and that the Police Public Interaction Policy will be used again to remind officers they must show the public the “utmost respect”.

He also outlined a community engagement push. Another instalment of the division’s Beat the Streets programme is set for the Cook Street Multipurpose Court in Savanna-la-Mar at 10:00 am on Monday, May 18.

“Beat the Streets is where we go out as the management team, station commanders, traffic personnel, operations team, all of us invite our stakeholders and we go into communities and have a rapport with the citizens within the communities, share the vision that we have for the community, listen to their concerns and see how best we can fulfil their needs,” he said.

Allen reported progress on violent crime. Murders in the division are down by six so far this year compared with the same period in 2025, which he described as a “38 per cent reduction in murders across the Westmoreland Division”.

The division plans an awards ceremony on June 30 at Sean Lavery Hall in Savanna-la-Mar to recognise officers’ work in the parish.