Kristen Gyles | Body cameras and accountable policing

On January 10, 2023, Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old man from Memphis, Tennessee, died from blunt force trauma to the head, three days after five police officers ganged up on him and beat him for several minutes. He had been pulled out of his vehicle at a traffic stop and was pepper sprayed. Nichols then attempted to escape the grasp of the officers by running away, but he was pursued, caught, handcuffed and beaten profusely. He was punched and kicked several times, beaten with a baton and tased. While he lay on the ground bloodied and gasping for air, the officers stood around discussing the entire ordeal rather than immediately seeking help for the dying man they had abused.

The five officers have all been fired and all faced criminal charges. How? Body cameras. Were it not for the evidence produced by the body cameras worn by some of the officers and a surveillance camera in the vicinity of the incident, who knows what story these officers would have cooked up and sold to their superiors, the media and to the public?

In Jamaica, one of the biggest challenges facing law enforcement is the problem of public mistrust. The results of the 2021 Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) study indicate that only 33 per cent of Jamaicans are trusting of the police. Many do not trust the police to act with unquestionable integrity when dealing with all members of the public and to act within the confines of their authority.

SEE AND BLIND, HEAR AND DEAF

Many unsolved crimes have silent witnesses who have adopted the ‘see and blind, hear and deaf’ mantra. Other citizens may not witness crimes but know very well who the local criminals are and how they can be caught. But do these citizens trust the police well enough to work with them? Effective policing is just not possible without the cooperation of the citizenry, and where there is a breakdown in trust there is likely to be a breakdown in cooperation.

In so many instances, where there is a standoff between the police and alleged criminals or wanted men, the citizens stand in defence of the accused and lambaste the police for overstepping their boundaries and violating human rights.

In one instance recently, for example, a 55-year-old man was allegedly shot dead by police in his home on Mountain View Avenue after, according to the police, they knocked, received no response and breached the premises only to see him pointing a gun at them. Residents of the community protested the shooting and say the police killed the man in cold blood. However, as far as we all know, only two parties truly know what happened on that day – the police and the dead man. The Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) has since made calls for anyone with relevant information to come forward, and, without any additional information, this case will probably wither away into the abyss like so many other alleged cases of extrajudicial killing.

We ought to give credence to tried and proven solutions being utilised in other jurisdictions. Body-worn cameras may actually improve the quality of interactions between officers and the public, and reduce the chances of misunderstanding or disputes. First, where criminal elements know that officers are garbed with body-worn cameras, their behaviour is likely to be less combative. The cameras should ideally also help to ensure that officers follow proper procedures and maintain ethical behaviour while in uniform.

INCREASE ACCOUNTABILITY

However, where the cameras fail as a preventative measure, they certainly increase accountability and help to ensure some level of transparency by providing an objective record of interactions. Transparency is key if the police are to foster trust between themselves and the communities they serve. The body cameras signal to the people that the police are committed to being open and accountable, which will go a far way in strengthening community relations. Too often do police operations descend into a finger-pointing exercise featuring a defensive police force claiming criminals initiated a shootout and irate citizens alleging the police drove up and rained down bullets on ‘innocent’ and unsuspecting men who were only sitting peacefully playing dominoes.

If the JCF can establish itself as being comprised of honest, trustworthy and accountable officers, the cloud of mistrust that hovers over the force would dissipate. Body-worn cameras will help to facilitate that.

Further, just as in Nichols’ murder case, body-worn cameras provide a valuable source of evidence that can be used in investigations and court cases and offer a clear and unbiased account of events that can help ensure that justice is served.

INDECOM revealed in its second quarterly report for 2024 that of the 252 incidents that involved police shooting that year, no body-worn cameras were activated. The bigger issue seems to be, therefore, not an absence of the resources needed to facilitate the use of the cameras but the signal(s) being sent (or not being sent) regarding their necessity.

The latest update from INDECOM is that 22 persons have been fatally shot by the security forces since the beginning of the year. The latest of these incidents is the fatal shooting of 55-year-old Eric Shakespeare in his Mountain View home.

Contrary to claims that body cameras are somehow impractical or hard to use, they are used far and wide across police departments worldwide. In fact, the use of body cameras is mandatory for police officers in several states in the US once officers are interacting with the public. For a country whose trust levels are in desperate need of resuscitation, we shouldn’t be shying away from systems that force accountability, but embracing them.

Kristen Gyles is a free-thinking public affairs opinionator. Send feedback to kristengyles@gmail.com and columns@gleanerjm.com