Jamaica’s security agenda must go beyond crime – SSP Lindsay

KINGSTON, Jamaica–Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Stephanie Lindsay has emphasised that Jamaica’s national security agenda must extend beyond policing and crime control in the post-Hurricane Melissa era.She described the devastation left behind by the category f¹ive storm as a “wake-up call” that has fundamentally rewritten the rules of survival for Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.“The citizens of Jamaica must see national security [as more than] crime and violence. We must [widen] the lens and confront other dimensions of global security [challenges] that determine [our survival] as a nation,” SSP Lindsay stated.She was delivering the opening address at the Caribbean Centre for Organisation Development Excellence Limited (CARI-CODE) Organisation Development Transformation (ODT) Conference 2026, held on Tuesday, June 23, at the Summit Kingston complex.SSP Lindsay highlighted four critical dimensions that will dictate Jamaica’s survival in future crises: energy security, health security, environmental and climate security, and food and economic security.She noted that energy stability is foundational to a functioning state, directly affecting critical-care patients in hospitals and households reliant on oxygen machines, who face immediate life-or-death situations when power fails.The senior officer also underscored the threat posed by rising sea levels to coastal infrastructure and the contamination of vital freshwater sources by floodwaters.She highlighted how citizens in parishes severely affected by Hurricane Melissa were forced to ration supplies, as supermarket shelves lay empty due to collapsed supply chains and the destruction of State relief warehouses.SSP Lindsay further emphasised that systemic vulnerabilities directly fuel the traditional crime cycle whenever there is a critical breakdown in social dynamics.“So we have to think about how we can build a national security agenda that strengthens society to be robust enough to [remain] resilient, even in [times of] crisis,” SSP Lindsay urged.She noted that this can only be achieved through an all-hands-on-deck approach, leveraging partnerships with the Government, the private sector, non-governmental organisations, and citizens, alongside a complete transformation of both people and infrastructure.“When it comes to change and transformation we have to start reshaping, putting away some of the old things that we practised for years and for decades,” SSP Lindsay maintained.The CARI-CODE ODT Conference 2026 is being staged in collaboration with the Caribbean Organisation Development Network (CODN) under the theme ‘Human Hearts, Digital Minds Harmonising Transformation – Bridging Social Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence for Regenerative Sustainable Change’. The two-day event concludes on Wednesday, June 24.-JIS