Police Superintendent Dudley Scott, a man endowed with an inherent passion and zeal for helping people, has dedicated over three decades of his life to serving and protecting his country.
Supt Scott has been a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) since 1977 and since then, he has blended his Christian beliefs and his sound knowledge of policing to being a gentleman worth emulating and motivating others in society.
Dudley Scott was molded, from an early age through his participation in farming, to be self-sufficient, disciplined and of high integrity.
Reflecting on his childhood in Topsham, Manchester, he said: “My father (Gilbert Scott) was a strict disciplinarian and during my schooling, there was not much avenue for me to go outside. This would require direct permission from my father.”
Scott’s father was a farmer and Dudley lived with him, along with his elder brothers. While attending Nazareth All Age and Mile Gully Secondary, Dudley Scott had to participate in farming. “The challenge was that there was no room for me to interact with children. Most of the time when I came from school, I had to feed the cows, rear the pigs, pick pimentos and coffee and do my own cultivation, such as planting Irish potatoes which would earn me money so I could be self-sufficient from those days,” he explained.
While attending school, young Dudley Scott had seen a policeman neatly attired and the thought then arose for him to become a member of that group. “I decided that the only way possible to get out of the strictness of my father was to become a member of the police cadet and I was called into training in April of 1976,” he said.
EARLY YEARS IN POLICING
Another turn of events would take place in young Scott’s life as he enlisted in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) on August 29, 1977. Ten months later on May 21, 1978, he graduated from the JCF as the best all round student in his batch.
Within two months after graduating, Scott was first stationed at the Oracabessa police station where his passion for community development started to be manifested.
He started several police youth clubs and became involved in cricket, playing for several years for the Oracabessa Cricket Club. He also played cricket and was captain of the St Mary police and Area 2 police cricket teams. He was also actively involved in athletics and represented the Area 2 police for nine consecutive years.
During his 38-year stint in the Force, Supt Scott has done various professional courses to enhance his career. These courses range from drug law enforcement courses to most recently in 2015, the administration of disciplinary tribunal.
He has supplemented these with: a certificate in social work from the Commonwealth Youth Programme (1981-1983); LOTUS computer course from the College of Arts, Science and Technology (CAST) now UTECH, in 1991; diploma in business management from the Institute of Management (1993-1994); diploma in Ministry and Bible teaching from the Jamaica Baptist Christian Education Institution (1999-2001).
OUTSTANDING POLICE CAREER
Supt Dudley Scott serves as the administration officer at Area II headquarters in Tower Isle, St Mary since January of 2015.In this capacity, his role involves monitoring and supervising of administrative staff throughout Area II, overseas court operations, prisoners, implement and manage training and recruitment programs for the divisions.
Prior to his appointment as administration officer, Supt Scott served in various key areas to ensure that the continued safety of the nation’s citizens. These were: divisional training sub-officer for the St Mary Division; operations officer for St Mary, Portland and Area II headquarters; administration officer for St Mary, St Andrew Central and Portland and commanding officer for St Mary, St Andrew Central, St Ann and Portland.
Supt Scott has a long list of achievement as a police officer thus far. Among those are achieving a major reduction in murders in the St Mary Division to a single digit of nine in 2009. He is also established and organized several police youth clubs and neighbourhood watches in the St Mary and Portland division.
Since 2011 Supt Scott has organized a function to honour police officers with long service. He has also assisted in the launching of a debating competition amongst high schools in Area II, assisted in the implementation of an incentive award programme that recognizes outstanding performances in the area, and established and facilitated a mentorship programme for delinquent boys at the Retreat Primary and Junior High School among others.
For his excellent service so far to the Constabulary Force, Supt Scott received the National Medal of Honour for meritorious service in 2007.
THE CHRISTIAN COP
“I am a Christian and also a police officer,” explained Supt Scott, who added that he is a member of the Grace Baptist Church in Oracabessa, St Mary.
He has served in various capacities at the church, by being a deacon, chairman of the deacons’ board, member of the Grace Baptist brotherhood and former chairman of the Grace Baptist church membership care committee.
His journey with God began in 1984, following a crusade at the Grace Baptist Church in Oracabessa, St Mary. A year earlier on December 17, 1983, he married Marvel Carter.
“The challenges of being a police officer are diverse… Most of the people you are dealing with on a daily basis are not Christians, both internally (in the police force) and on the streets. So you do not have the privilege of having a community of believers. I have been exposed to gross immorality, drug addicts and other things,” he said.
While noting that the police force faces its own challenges such as corruption, high divorce rates, alcoholism, depression and even suicides, Supt Scott explained that he continues to work with integrity and he knows that God has given him the endurance to move forward.
“What helps me to overcome these things that I have a very strong and loving family and my church family,” he added.
He shares a loving union of 33 years with his wife Marvel. Supt Scott has three children; Collin, Stephen and Duane.
COMMUNITY WORK
Apart from his role in the church, Supt Scott, is deeply passionate about being actively involved in the community. His list of community involvement work includes: the founder and past president of the Boscobel Citizens Association;an appointee to the board of visitors for Residential Child Care facilities; member of the Jacks River Primary school board; past president of the Association of Christian Peace Officers (ACPO); past vice president of the St Mary Cricket Association; former executive member of the Caribbean Law Enforcement Torch Run; former chairman of the St Mary Disaster Committee (Red Cross) and former director of the Port Antonio Lions Club. “It takes proper time management and I thank God for an understanding family because many times I have to be away from them.”
Supt Scott enjoys watching cricket and athletics, listening gospel music and spending time with his family.
Moving forward, Supt Scott hopes to see greater improvements in the police force. Among those are seeing great improvements in the working conditions, the greater use of technology in crime fighting, such as the use of body cameras, improvements in mobility to ensure quick response to citizens, improvements in the partnership among the community, the stakeholders and the police.
“The police must get involved with the community. They cannot stay away from it and they must seek to empower themselves with knowledge not only within the force, but from an external perspective,” he said, while adding that he hoped to see Area II being a crime free area one day.
