Security experts support transition from C-TOC to SIB

Mark Shields, a former Deputy Commissioner of Police, is urging the public not to view the newly established Specialized Investigation Branch of the Jamaica Constabulary Force merely as a replacement for the former C-TOC Branch.

Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake announced on the weekend that the new Specialized Investigation Branch has been established to take over the functions previously performed by C-TOC.

Shields, now Managing Director of SHIELDS Crime & Security Consultants, speaking Monday on Radio Jamaica’s Beyond the Headlines, said the recent announcement of the new unit should instead be viewed by the public as a swift response to  evolving new crime trends.

Under the new structure, the Transnational Crime Investigation Division, encompassing Trafficking in Persons Unit, Intellectual Property Crime, Kidnapping Unit, Special Investigation Unit, the Fugitive Apprehension Team (JFAT), and The Legal and Quality Management Unit will be placed under the SIB.

Recalling a history of specialised police units being established for a period and then being replaced by a succeeding body, Shields said this latest development is in keeping with that approach, “and I consider this to be positive,” and “a logical next step.”

Characterising serious crimes today as “complex, transnational, intelligence-driven,” he argued that “bringing these specialised investigative units under one command makes absolute strategic sense.”

He said the new branch should enable a more efficient police force.

The former Deputy Commissioner added that he was hoping the newly established SIB will put a dent in the number of fraud cases affecting financial institutions, “which is one area that I believe is still booming, and it’s probably the most under-reported type of crime as well.”

He said, for the most part, the financial institutions do not report these crimes, which allows the perpetrators to “move from one organization to another.”

Dr Damion Blake, Associate Professor of Public Policy & Political Science at Elon University, who also a guest on Beyond the Headlines, said the re-organization announced by the Police Commissioner is an indication that the JCF can adapt to a changing environment.

He argued that it shows the willingness of the Commissioner to transform the JCF.

Like Shields, he commended the move to have all these investigative agencies “under one umbrella,” arguing that this should result in “greater levels of oversight, more auditing of the men and women who will serve in these various departments, under this one umbrella.”

Dr Blake also stressed that “the tentacles of corruption (and) malpractice” are not things of the past; “they continue to evolve and change over time.”