![]() Today, the advent of new technology, more efficient training andbetter facilities add to the increased professionalism of the Force.Godfrey, however, demonstrates that the intelligence and cunning,which still exist today, was at the helm of police work of yesteryear.It is of interest to note that at the time, the Police Special Branch wasa good deal more extensive than generally supposed. Godfrey does not usecorrect place names, organizations or people in every instance, butthose who are knowledgeable about the period will engage theirown detection skills to correctly identify the persons involved.The visit of the Inspector-General to the Watt Town police station,for example, is one such manifestation and some of the characters,such as the 'cricket-loving' Detective Corporal of St Ann, will beeasily recognized by anyone who has served in the JamaicaConstabulary Force. The stories concerning relationships with the media,politicians and the various communities of the day are, in fact,a vivid social commentary of those times. Some of the stories contained in this book trigger memories ofsimilar experiences in my mind, but overall, they reveal a Force witha sense of humour spiced with good Jamaican 'ginnalship'. ![]() When he wastransferred ten years later, there were over sixty police at variousranks and the Force had been completely Jamaicanized withGodfrey himself having served under many Jamaicans. In 1950, Godfrey started with fourteen staff. Godfrey was serving at the end of a long line of expatriateofficers and his services in Jamaica preceded the Jamaicanization ofthe Force which heralded an era of fundamental change. Itwas a time during which incidents of crime were low as comparedwith today and an age when there was much more civility in oursociety. This saying resurfaced when I was invited toread the manuscript for this book, since I found myself pausingonce again to reflect how little has changed in the overall nature ofthings in Jamaica.ĭavid Godfrey has recorded some of his experiences whileserving in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) during the 1950s. I remembered the maxim: times do notchange, people do. ![]() Despite the fact that these had taken place nearly onehundred years earlier, I found the descriptions both revealing andironic, for we were experiencing a similar phenomenon betweenpolicemen and soldiers. Jamaica Defence Force (retired) - former Commissioner of PoliceĪ GOOD MANY YEARS AGO, while editing the annual magazine ofthe Jamaica Defence Force, I came across an article which describeda number of incidents involving clashes between policemen andsoldiers. Reckoning With The Force: Stories of the Jamaica Constabulary Force in the 1950sįoreword by Col Trevor N.
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