Some rank and file members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, JCF, are speaking out publicly about how their seniors demand sex from them for promotion.

They’ve laid bare how pervasive this culture is in the Police Force, saying it happens every day.

If and when they refuse the sexual advances of their seniors, they say they’re punished by being denied promotions. They say they’re also arbitrarily transferred, disrupting their family lives.

The police personnel who spoke last evening on Nationwide @5, asked that their identities be concealed, fearing they’d be victimized. But they didn’t hide their frustration with the problem they suggest is essentially the norm in the 150-year-old Jamaica Constabulary Force.

One policeman says it’s not a problem for only women in the Force. He says policemen are also approached by their seniors for sex on a daily basis.

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The policeman, who we called Michael, has been serving in the JCF for 19 years. He says when policemen and women reject the sexual demands of their seniors, they’re transferred out of spite.

According to him, some police personnel end up being transferred multiple times if they consistently reject what he says are sometimes persistent demands. He says senior officers at the police stations where they’re transferred would be informed and they’d be ridiculed by them.

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Michael went further, declaring that despite being in the JCF for nearly two decades, he’ll not be promoted. And he knows precisely why.

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Sandra is a policewoman who spoke out in last evening’s interview. Again, that’s not her real name. She’s served in the JCF for eight years.

She says refusing requests or demands for sexual favours will result in police personnel being transferred to what she describes as ‘undesirable’ areas.

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Sandra and Michael are speaking out as the National Security Minister, Robert Montague, has publicly lamented that the police are ‘demotivated’ and ‘demoralized’, placing this issue front and centre in the public domain — in a way that’s unusually frank.

In a strongly-worded statement this week, he’s condemned Police Commissioner, George Quallo and the Chair of the Police Services Commission, Professor Gordon Shirley over what he describes as the longstanding issue of widespread discontent among members of the JCF concerning promotion.

He’s demanded that Commissioner Quallo and the PSC immediately fill nearly 400 vacant positions in the JCF by promoting ranks and file members and officers who deserve to be promoted.

He’s also criticized the leadership of the Police Force saying its promotion policy needs to be more transparent and merit-based. And, another policeman, Jamie, who spoke yesterday on Cliff Hughes Online, says he, too, feels demotivated.

Jamie says he’s been in the JCF for 12 years. But he says he’s never been promoted despite twice passing the JCF’s promotion exam which he says isn’t easy.

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He says he feels he hasn’t been promoted because he doesn’t have any great connection with anyone in leadership of the Police Force who could push through his promotion. He says promotion in the JCF is heavily dependent on ‘who you know’.

Jamie says he’s not encouraged to continue working in the JCF, admitting he’s seeking other opportunities.

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In his statement on Wednesday, Security Minister, Robert Montague, said he’s concerned that some police personnel have sat exams three times and more and have satisfied the requirements but have not been promoted.

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