BODYCAM ALARM!
No footage as security forces kill 119 civilians in nine months despite JCF having hundreds of recording devices
Published:Friday | November 3, 2023 | 12:10 AM
THE LEADERSHIP of the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) has raised an alarm that the security forces have not used body-worn cameras in incidents where 119 civilians have been fatally shot by agents of the state over the period January to October 2023.
However, INDECOM reported that the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) produced evidence in a single case where a body-worn camera was used during a shooting.
Members of the security forces shot and injured 86 people between January and October this year, according to INDECOM.
Assistant Commissioner of INDECOM Hamish Campbell said there has been an annual increase in fatal shootings by members of the security forces since 2019.
“None of these incidents had body-worn cameras. A significant number of these shooting incidents arise from planned police operations to visit premises to arrest and search and none of the officers were either trained or equipped or in possession of body-worn cameras in such incidents,” Campbell told journalists during a press conference yesterday at the oversight body’s headquarters in New Kingston.
In his contribution to the Sectoral Debate in April, National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang announced that at least 400 body-worn cameras had been deployed to members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).
He signalled then that the acquisition of the devices would lessen the time it took to resolve complaints against the police.
Chang also pledged that the Government would be acquiring another 1,000 body-worn cameras during the current fiscal year.
Commissioner of INDECOM Hugh Faulkner told reporters yesterday that the lack of adequate distribution and use of body-worn cameras for both planned and unplanned operations by the security forces where death or injuries occurred was of particular concern to his agency.
He said that the commission continues to interview concerned officers to ascertain whether they have been trained in, issued with or were using body-worn cameras at the time of a reported shooting incident.
“The use of body-worn cameras in engagements between the security forces and members of the public is a matter that should be addressed by the leadership of both the JCF and the JDF (Jamaica Defence Force) as a matter of urgency, especially in planned operations,” the INDECOM head urged.
He said in earlier discussions with the leadership of the security forces, INDECOM was given the assurance that all steps were being made to procure this vital piece of equipment.
Faulkner argued that it would be difficult to find someone who would not agree that the use of body-worn cameras facilitates the processes of justice.
“The body-worn cameras will give the account of what transpired without embellishment, without partiality or without bias,” he added.
He stressed that the use of the devices would benefit both citizens and law enforcement officers.
In January, then State Minister for National Security Zavia Mayne said that the procurement of 600 body cameras by March was expected to bolster the police force’s evidence-gathering capacity and help challenge dubious claims of innocence from motorists ticketed for traffic violations.
“When all our police are fitted with body cameras, we know that nobody can’t make up no duppy story again, because everything that transpires is recorded and transmitted and forms part of the corroboration and the corroborating material that you, as the police, will put forward during the prosecution of these traffic breaches,” Mayne said.