Partisan politics is like poison to fair and just policing. This is why Sir Alexander Bustamante insisted that our Constitution provided for a Police Service Commission to advise our governor general on the appointment, promotion, discipline and dismissal of senior police officers.

This is to protect us against corrupt politicians, but the recent strategic review of our police would weaken this protection.

They propose at page 45 that the Police Service Commission and the Police (Civilian Oversight) Authority be merged and it is significant that this was the first proposal that both the People's National Party and Jamaica Labour Party quickly agreed to.

Report to two masters

According to the reviewers, this merged authority would negotiate and help plan the police budget and also inspect and assess police management and performance.

Curiously, they will report to two masters i.e. the governor general and the minister of national security. Members of this new hybrid could not then fairly hear disciplinary cases against senior police officers where charges subsequently arise from errant police operations, the details of which have been previously reviewed by these members.

This is because with this foreknowledge they could not be entirely neutral judges of the facts of the case and this would breach some revered legal doctrines.

Worse yet, the notoriously toxic arena of police budgets, resource allocation, use of force and botched police operations exposes them to an overdose of partisan politics and public outcry.

Compounding one of their many grave errors of fact, the reviewers claim that this merger would "resemble the police authorities in Canada and the United Kingdom".

Powers dispersed

The fact is that, unlike their recommended Jamaican hybrid, UK police authorities cannot discipline senior police officers, cannot approve the appointment of heads of police department and are not mandated to inspect management and performance.

Their police chiefs, the home secretary, and the Audit Com-mission, respectively, perform these functions.

Additionally, the UK policing boards were never designed - as is our Police Service Commission - to be political neutral zones. Many strident local government councillors are members of UK boards.

Contrary to the recommended concentration of powers in this new merger, such powers in the UK are wisely dispersed among various authorities for more democratic forms of policing.

Our government should reverse its decision to uncritically imple-ment all 124 of the reviewers recommendations as many will lead us in dangerous directions.

I am, etc.,

HAROLD CROOKS

Kingston 8