Above: Police Commissioner Owen Ellington

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Jamaica has appointed former Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas to be the country’s new Police Welfare Coordinator at the Ministry of National Security, according to National Security Minister Peter Bunting.

Thomas will advocate for former officers and those who still serve the country.

“This high-stress environment is not common to every worker in the public service, so I think that there is a strong case [for the position],” Bunting said at a joint conference of the Jamaica Police Federation in Falmouth. “I will be advocating on your behalf and ensure that it is handled with the greatest urgency and seriousness.”

Bunting said there were a number of issues for police, particularly with respect to benefits.

“When I met with the Central Executive of the Police Federation, I was surprised that, apart from issues of concern about greater benefits, probably equally frustrating were areas where they already had benefits, but accessing them is so bureaucratic, so frustrating and sometimes it is taking years,” he said.

The new Coordinator would work to remove these kinds of obstacles in accessing existing benefits, and would develop recommendations for new welfare initiatives.

He will chiefly act as a liaison between government agencies, Bunting said.