With the changing of the guard at the Jamaica Defence Force comes new promises and expectations.
The new Chief of Defence Staff Major General Rocky Meade replaces Major General Antony Anderson, who served as Chief of Defence Staff since 2010.
Meade has vowed increased support for the police as the nation continues to struggle with a major crime problem.
At the Change of Command Parade at Up Park Camp yesterday, Meade said that while some of the solutions to Jamaica’s crime problem must be implemented over the long term, there are some immediate strategies that the security forces must partner to address.
“I encourage you to appreciate that our most significant challenges are multifaceted and impacted … by our more deep-rooted problem of how we view and respond to our fellow men,” said Meade.
“The security solution is necessarily multisectoral and, as the Prime Minister said, ‘every Jamaican can play their part’. There is no quick fix …, but while we lay the foundations for the long term, there are immediate and urgent security challenges, and we have already increased our support to the police to mitigate the impact,” added Meade.
“It is our goal to assist the police in bringing wrongdoers to face the justice system. Just yesterday, one of our patrols brought in a young man found with an illegal weapon,” noted the veteran army man.
Meade stated that the JDF is committed to playing its part in the Prime Minister’s employment and engagement programme aimed at increasing the interaction with community youths.
Anderson is now the country’s first national security adviser.
