Four cops accidentally shot by colleagues in March quarter – INDECOM

A total of four police officers were accidentally shot and injured by colleagues during the period January to March this year. 

At a press conference earlier today, Assistant Commissioner of the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) Hamish Campbell said that this is a continuation of similar incidents which the police oversight body has recorded annually. 

Campbell told journalists that the four police shot and injured during the first quarter are among 25 people who were shot and wounded by cops. 

He indicated that every month INDECOM receives reports of the police accidentally shooting themselves. 

The INDECOM assistant commissioner said that this issue should be addressed by the Jamaica Constabulary Force to determine “whether there is carelessness or negligence with regard to their officers shooting themselves.” 

Campbell said that these incidents are reported by INDECOM every year where there is a subset of officers who accidentally shoot themselves in the leg or foot. 

He noted that some of the shooting injuries by the police are not self-inflicted but occur as a result of the careless action of colleagues. 

“It is a critically important issue and nobody has been fatally wounded by another officer's gun in such circumstances but there is always the potential for this to occur,” Campbell said. 

He stressed that it is critical that members of the police force “control and learn to use their weapons in all circumstances without injury to others inadvertently.” 

- Edmond Campbell

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.