Over the years like other immigrant groups, the recruitment and representation of Jamaicans have increased exponentially. This created a need for Jamaican-American members to have a fraternal organization that specifically represented the Jamaican tradition, beliefs, culture, and heritage.
In the past as an alternative and in search of a place to bond, many Jamaican members joined the police department’s African American organization, the Guardians Association. Respectfully, the founding members fundamentally believed no other organization in the department could specifically represent Jamaicans besides a Jamaican fraternal organization. This led to the idea to create a fraternal organization that would represent Jamaican-American members, and to assist the department in welcoming the rich Jamaican culture as they build bridges with the Jamaican community in New York City and abroad. In 2018, a group of Jamaican American members of NYPD began meeting to form a Jamaican fraternal organization. Unfortunately, the devastating impact of COVID-19 caused these founding members to struggle to conduct business, have meetings, increase its membership, and market the Jamaican organization. These members persevered and with the assistance of newer members, the Jamaican-American Law Enforcement Organization was established on January 24, 2020, and recognized by the NYPD as an official fraternal organization on December 6, 2021.