Policemen who go unsung in their daily law enforcement duties are in line for recognition at the upcoming Transforming Our Police Service (TOPS) Awards ceremony.
Set for the National Police College in Twickenham Park this Thursday (December 18), the event mounted by the Police Civilian Oversight Authority (PCOA) will present awards across 12 categories to deserving cops in the Area 5.
For PCOA Chief Executive Officer Otarah Byfield, the awards, which celebrates its seventh iteration this year, at its core is meant to “boost the morale of the officers by showing gratitude for their service.”
“The TOPS awards are part of the accountability framework that we aim to promote within the Jamaica Constabulary Force. We are adjudging basic policing processes that are not resource intensive so it puts everybody on a level playing field. The awards show officers that exemplary behaviour and high standards will always be rewarded,” added Byfield, who has led the Ministry of National Security agency since 2019.
Among the trophies slated to be handed out at Thursday’s much anticipated event — for officers in Area 5 which spans St. Thomas, St. Andrew North, St. Catherine North and St. Catherine divisions — are for Top Station, Top Customer Service Station, Top Marine Outpost and the newly introduced People’s Choice Award.
Furthermore, Byfield stressed that TOPS is envisioned to function too as an incentive to stimulate exceptionalism as a norm. “It serves as both a motivating and inspiring tool to other officers as well, who now see others who are striving for excellence, and they would probably now want to emulate them to work towards an overall improvement in their performance.”
Detailing the behind-the-scenes process that goes into determining eventual winners, the PCOA head honcho explained that it begins with the field inspections of police stations.
“We look at things like records management, community interaction and customer service. We also examine the stations themselves and see whether the barracks rooms are tidy. We also get the citizens involved by conducting customer satisfaction surveys. That rubric provides some level of objectivity to the process. So once the field work is done, the PCOA team returns to the office, and we tabulate the scores and decide who the winners are.”
Turning to the People’s Choice Award, which makes its debut at the ceremony, she said this involved direct voting from citizens residing in the respective policing areas being inspected. “Based on the numbers, the station that has the highest numbers of public votes would get the award.”
All 12 category winners are set to receive cash awards and prizes from a slate of sponsors including Jamaica Police Co-operative Credit Union, Lannaman and Morris Shipping Ltd., JPS, Rhino Jamaica Limited, Jamaica Broilers, Petrojam, Blue Power Group, Worthy Park Rum Tour, Matalon Homes and Jollys Restaurant.
The devastating human impact left out west in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa in October gave the PCOA pause on whether to follow through with the TOPS ceremony, which typically is held in November.
“After our assessment of reading the room as well as the sensitivity of the environment, we felt it was still important to recognize officers, who worked so hard throughout the year and went through the process of inspections,” she explained of the choice to press on.
“It’s a much more scaled down version of the event this year, but this essentially does not reflect the value of the awards, the value of the event or value of the appreciation that we want to give to our officers. We have still managed to maintain the number of awards we have projected albeit we had lost some sponsorship.”
She further noted that another critical factor in tipping the go-ahead of the TOPS ceremony was a post-Hurricane Melissa partnership between the PCOA and JCF’s Inspectorate and Professional Standards Oversight Bureau (IPROB).
There was a joint relief distribution trip to Westmoreland. Based on the stories and experiences of officers on that side of the island, who had lost homes and personal belongings but still showed up for work to serve, protect and reassure the rest of Jamaica, I think it was important for the PCOA to continue to recognize officers in general. There is that spirit of adaptability in circumstances that we are unfamiliar with. I think the PCOA has demonstrated that we are able to pivot in times of challenges and uncertainties.”
In addition to the trove of trophies to be given to members of the police force, there will also be the TOPS Poster Competition awards for secondary school entrants.
Commemorating its third year, this competition was created to allow young visual artists to express through brushstrokes, their impressions of the police and what their relationship with citizens look like.
Of the 30 plus secondary schools from within Area 5, seven made submissions for this contest. The top six winners, whose posters will be used on the 2026 TOPS calendar as well as a colouring book for early childhood institutions, will receive awards. The winning students’ art educators will also be given tokens of appreciation.
And, with the new year looming, Byfield said a key area of focus for PCOA’s mission plan will be “increased engagement not only with police officers but also citizens.”
“The work we do of inspecting police processes and procedures, that will always stand. I think it is now very important to build on the level of engagement with the citizens and police officers and see ways we can bring those parties together because educating the populace about what their rights and responsibilities are, what is expected of them, and what is expected of the police, is how we create a more transparent culture.”
The event will be livestreamed on the Police Civilian Oversight Authority YouTube Channel, starting at 10:00 a.m on Thursday, December 18.