Jamaica has lost about 2000 police personnel in the last five years, and things seem to be getting worse as many flee the island to seek better opportunities overseas.
While there has been mass recruitment in an effort to bolster the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) numbers, indications are that the force is struggling to keep these new recruits because of low salaries, corruption, and the high-risk nature of the job.
Former Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson had announced in 2023 that the force was losing approximately 400 police officers each year.
“When you’re recruiting 400 (officers) and you’re losing roughly 400 (officers), nothing changes. So, we expect to lose about 400 officers a year to retirement, resignation, to migration…and a few other reasons,” the then police commissioner stated.
The JCF has held multiple graduation ceremonies since that time, including those for new constables and for graduates of specialised training programmes. Notably, 128 new constables graduated on August 28, 2024 at the National Police College of Jamaica (NPCJ). A graduation exercise also took place in March this year for Batch 157 and 158 constables at the NPCJ. Additionally, 21 police officers completed a newly accredited driver training programme at the NPCJ in May 2025.
According to security minister Dr. Horace Chang, the recruitment is a priority for the government.
“To transform the JCF, we have had to provide additional numbers of police officers so they don’t have that stress with long work hours. We provided the tools to communicate effectively with each other, along with the community. We have done a lot of work; it is paying off, but there is more to be done,” the minister said.
Photo source: JIS
At the time when he spoke in February 2024, the force had about 12,000 police. This year, we will be at 14,000. We will then do a reassessment to see if, with the force multiplier, we are successful with 14,000 or if we have to add another 2,000,” Dr. Chang said.
Since that time, the management of the JCF was taken over by Dr. Kevin Blake, who was appointed as the Commissioner of Police on March 19, 2024. Although he has been credited with helping to reduce the country’s crime numbers, there are increasing concerns about the rapid increase in extrajudicial killings since his promotion. The matter has caught the attention of human rights groups and ordinary citizens who feel these killings will make it harder for community policing, as it erodes trust, which is essential for the maintenance of long-term crime reduction.
It is not yet known the extent to which these extrajudicial killings have impacted the psychological well-being of members of the force. As many as 111 persons have been fatally shot by cops since the start of the year. Human rights lobby group Jamaicans for Justice recently held a peaceful protest in St. Andrew to amplify calls for the use of body-worn cameras by cops.
Similar concerns about the decline in the police force in other countries in the region are also being raised. Haiti, especially, has lost exceptionally large numbers of cops to migration. According to Haitian-born journalist Jacqueline Charles, at least 1,800 police officers who were employed in the Haitian police force are not physically in the country. According to Charles, who writes for the Miami Herald, Justice Minister Patrick Pelissier says efforts are ongoing to figure out the cops who left.
In Jamaica, there are reports of several police officers going on leave and not returning to the job. Low wages, high levels of corruption, and the stressful nature of the job have been cited as reasons for this.
In other countries like Guyana, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago, there have been challenges with recruiting police officers. In the case of Guyana, there is concern about the high levels of corruption amongst police officers.
The TT Police Service (TTPS) has been struggling to recruit the 1000 police it promised in 2023 to help curtail crime in Trinidad and Tobago. Speaking on the matter earlier this year, Commissioner of Police (CoP) Erla Harewood-Christopher said it was as a result of applicants failing various aspects of the recruitment process. National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds has also spoken about the challenge in finding suitable recruits.
“They can’t pass a drug test. They can’t pass polygraph test. Some can’t pass the psychometric testing,” he said.
“Of all the young people who offered themselves, the list got slimmer and slimmer.”