George Fitzroy Quallo is Jamaica’s 29th Commissioner of Police, with responsibility for “enhancing the security services to the country, improving public order, reducing corruption and improving accountability across the force”, as well as “implementing a comprehensive succession planning process for the Directorate of Constabulary”.
His appointment to the post of police commissioner took effect on April 18, 2017. He replaced Dr Carl Williams, Jamaica’s 28th commissioner, who stepped down from the post in January 2017 on early retirement after 28 months on the job. In the interim between Quallo’s appointment and Williams’ retirement, ACP Novelette Grant acted as commissioner of police. Some thought that she was going to be appointed Jamaica’s first female police commissioner.
A career policeman who enlisted in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) in November 1976, Quallo has been in the force for more than 40 years. Since January 2016, he has served as the Deputy Commissioner of Police with responsibility for the Territorial Operations Portfolio. He was appointed Assistant Commissioner of Police in December 2010 and Deputy Commissioner in November 2015.
He led various divisions in the Jamaica Constabulary Force, including Area 4, between March 2012 and December 2015 during which there were three successive years of reduction in murders and major crimes. In 2009, he led the rebuilding of the JCF armoury, implementing rigorous internal controls and strengthening accountability for firearms within the force.
Between 2002 and 2006, he restructured the Manchester Police Division, utilising community policing principles as the major policing strategy, resulting in a large reduction in all crime categories. He received widespread endorsement for his appointment from National Security Minister Robert Montague and former Commissioner of Police Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin.
Sources: The Gleaner Newspaper Archives and Jamaica Information Service
