Tuesday, 11 March 2008   Police Commissioner Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin Tuesday made an unusual admission.

Addressing several business leaders in Kingston on Tuesday morning, Commissioner Lewin said the Jamaica Constabulary Force is riddled with criminals. 

It is something not usually mentioned by the top cop.

But on Tuesday Commissioner Hardley Lewin did not mince words as he told scores of business interests that the police force is laden with criminals.

To this end the commissioner made mention of two recent arrests.

"The fact is that there are criminals within the force, criminals. Just last Saturday we had to arrest two officers who were on a robbery spree in Montego Bay. Two officers were on interdiction for disciplinary matters," he said.

"There is a strategic review of the force being conducted and my task will be to drive that transformation process," he continued.  

In an attempt to clean up the force, the Commissioner pointed out that this can only be done with the help of the wider public. 

"The police, as one of the five dimensions, has a critical role to play in the fixing of the many ills of this country but this is not a policing problem. The other dimensions have a critical role to play this means that everything must happen simultaneously in order to fix it,"

"We want a police force that is relatively corruption free, you won't bring it to zero. I think the police force has reached a stage where it can't be reformed it has to be transformed because there are some cultural norms within the force," said Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin.