The Bull Bay Police Station in the Kingston Eastern police division has copped the coveted Top Station award in the 2021 Police Civilian Oversight Authority (PCOA) ‘Transforming Our Police Service’ (TOPS) Competition.
The awards ceremony was held on November 25 at the Office of the Police Commissioner in St. Andrew.
Bull Bay topped 30 other police stations in five divisions in the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s (JCF) Area Four, which were inspected as part of the awards scheme.
The divisions are St. Andrew South, St. Andrew Central, Kingston Eastern, Kingston Central and Kingston Western.
Inspections for the competition were conducted between September 27 and October 19 and the areas of focus included records management, station administration,
station facility and community/customer service.
The Kingston Eastern Division received the Top Customer Service Division award, while Denham Town Police Station walked away with the award for Top Prisoners in Custody (PIC) Station.
Olympic Gardens Police Station in St. Andrew South; Mona Police Post, St. Andrew Central; Allman Town Police Station, Kingston Central; and Denham Town Police Station, Kingston Western, were named the Top Stations in their divisions.
The inaugural Dr. the Hon. Marshall Hall Award was presented to the St. Catherine North Division for showing the most improvement in the TOPS re-inspection. This year’s winner is from the 2020 Area Five TOPS participants.
Commissioner of Police, Major General Antony Anderson, in his address at the awards ceremony, thanked the members of the JCF, who, he said, continue to “go above and beyond the call of duty” to create a safe and secure Jamaica.
He said that the management of the JCF remains committed to providing the necessary tools and equipment to allow members of the Force to operate effectively.
“The back end of our force, we are building it out… . I am talking about the support structures that allow officers to be at the front-end doing the things they need to do,” he noted.
Commissioner Anderson informed that the process of ISO certification continues for the Emergency Control Centre and specific areas at two police stations as the JCF seeks to improve its service delivery.
“The actual documentation, processes and procedures to get this done have been very extensive and it has brought home to us, not only what needs to happen at the stations but the linkages [that are needed] to deliver at the front end.
“We go to audit [soon] and by next year we should have these areas compliant. But the lessons learnt, the development of our audit team that can audit for compliance, all these things are beneficial beyond just certification,” he said.
Commissioner Anderson hailed the PCOA for instituting the TOPS award scheme, which recognises the work of outstanding police stations.
“I want to thank the PCOA for their interest in what we do, for providing the reports that allow me to intervene where necessary, and as an organisation we have to continue to strive for excellence; continue to raise the bar and continue to deliver what our people expect of us,” he said.
Chief Executive Officer of the PCOA, Otarah Byfield Nugent, in her remarks, said that the TOPS awards focuses on raising standards, boosting morale, and ensuring accountability in the force.
She noted that the awards programme is an innovative way to increase the compliance of law-enforcement personnel with policies and procedures in the execution of their duties.
The initiative, which was developed in 2019, judges police stations in terms of compliance with specific JCF standard operating procedures, including records management, station administration, station facility, utilities conservation and customer service.
The PCOA is independent of the JCF and its auxiliary (district constables) and audits the compliance of the Force’s standard operating procedures and policies.