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KINGSTON, Jamaica, Saturday, January 4, 2020 (CMC) – Jamaican police officers say they have reached an agreement to settle their differences, after Police Commissioner, Major General Antony Anderson, yesterday, intervened to end the row between them.
A statement from the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Corporate Communications Unit (CCU) said officials from the Police Officers’ Association (POA) and the Police Federation met with Anderson and agreed to implement a system of internal communication, to ensure that challenges will be properly aired, internally, and remedied in a timely manner.
“While passionate about representing the welfare and well-being of both groups of our members, we wish to make it absolutely clear, that we remain united and committed to achieving the strategic objectives of the Commissioner of Police and the Jamaica Constabulary. There is a shared sense of urgency about the vision of modernisation and growth of the organisation,” the statement noted.
“The safety and security of the Jamaican people remains paramount in our minds, and we are excited about the achievement of our collective goals,” it added.
Media reports, here, said that the Federation and the POA had been engaged in a public quarrel, since the Federation criticised senior police officers and called them lazy and abusive.
The reports said that the Federation had accused high-ranking officers of abusing their authority, in approving transfers and other human resource actions, in a petty bid to punish subordinates. But the POA rejected the allegations and described the manner, in which the issues were raised, as unpalatable.
The CCU said following the meeting on Friday, the leadership of both organisations said they were satisfied that the issues have been properly ventilated.
