Adams lashes State over police pay
Retired cop calls it bordering on lunacy; suggests that officers are left to survive off corruption
RETIRED Senior Superintendent of Police Reneto Adams has come out guns blazing at the Government, in support of police personnel who have for long been in salary negotiations with the State.
Adams argued that the manner in which the police force has been treated in recent time was debasing and suggested that the lawmen were being indirectly motivated to turn to corruption.
“It would seem to me that when they treat police with this indignity and disrespect, what they are doing really is sending these people to commit acts of atrocities relating to corruption. And nobody realise that this is a travesty of justice as far as I am concerned,” he told the Jamaica Observer last Thursday.
“I was in the force and I know that the longer you hold policemen’s salary, they turn to corruption and other means of survival. It’s a common thing; everybody knows that out there,” he continued.
Adams pointed to the rigours of police work, noting that there is rarely enough time to take on side jobs to make additional income.
“That factor is important. There’s no time to do that, so if there are extreme pressures and other circumstances on their budget, they yield to bribe-taking to garner funds to keep them going along.”
Unions representing members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) in their fight for proper compensation last week denied that they had rejected a proposed pay package from Government, and have indicated that they are “batting carefully” before signing off on anything final.
After months of negotiations last year, members of the Jamaica Police Federation agreed to accept the Government’s wage offer on February 21.
The package saw a four per cent increase in wages and salaries, related allowances for the contract period April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022. The agreement is to be inked at a signing ceremony at the Ministry of Finance tomorrow.
Adams warned the Government that if it refuses to satisfy police, among other civil servants, its collapse is imminent.
“Any Government that does not realise and recognise that civil servants, public officers, police force, army, teachers, doctors are their best powers, then they have become really senile, imbecilic and bordering on lunacy. If you don’t pay your civil servants, the Government is going to fall, and in short order too. I say that to say that these are the people who keep the Government going,” the ex-cop told the Sunday Observer.
Last Sunday, 803 delegates of the 25,000-strong Jamaica Teachers’ Association voted, with 629 opting to accept the offer and 147 rejecting it. There was one abstention.
The week before, teachers staged four days of protests in the form of sick-outs, sit-ins and go-slow to press their demand for what they said was a “livable” salary. Many students were turned back when they arrived at school.
Adams stressed that police officers must be paid for their role in keeping society afloat, considering the high risk nature of the job.
“I don’t think they are asking for more than what they deserve. They must be able to live on their salary. You pay your rent out of your salary, transportation out of your salary, groceries, send your children to school, and have a little saving out of your salary. They are not asking for anything more,” he said.
“Overall, the treatment of police officers over the last 25 years has been atrocious. That has been the case in regard to everything — promotion, training, proper placement, staffing, salary. There is no motivation and the force has been underdeveloped for a very long time and it’s not by accident. It’s by design.”
On Tuesday, March 7, during the opening of the 2023/2024 Budget Debate in Parliament, Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke encouraged the police and other public sector groups to sign the new compensation agreement before the March 31 window for the 2022-2023 fiscal year closes.
Clarke had indicated that the Government has set aside $10.2 billion to pay rank and file members of the JCF, $1 billion to pay district constables, and $600 million for members of the officer ranks.
Members of the Police Officers’ Association, which represents officers from the rank of assistant superintendent to commissioner, rejected the Government’s compensation offer last week.
Adams argued that the treatment of police officers and other civil servants stems from colonialism.
“I have served this country for 43 years and three months, and let me tell you; it is a relic of colonialism. A public servant, a civil servant, a teacher, nurse, doctor, police must not become rich because they want to subjugate you to their whims and fantasies. And anything they say to you, you are not in a position to respond against their wishes,” he told the Sunday Observer.
“They [civil servants] will never be given any salary that is designed to make them independent. The salary is always designed to make them come begging again. It is a strategy of colonialism and slavery to restrict you from having any semblance of authority, independence or self-reliance,” Adams added.