127 fatally shot, 68 injured by security forces in 2021 – INDECOM

The Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) is reporting that 127 people were fatally shot by members of the security forces last year and a further 68 were shot and injured. 

The fatalities represent a 10 per cent increase when compared to the 115 killed by the security forces in 2020, while a 26 per cent reduction was recorded with 92 people shot and injured over a similar period. 

The disclosure was made by Assistant Commissioner at INDECOM Hamish Campbell during this morning's virtual press conference. 

Campbell said the police accounted for 118 of the 127 fatalities recorded last year, while soldiers accounted for nine. 

He said the increase in fatal shootings for 2021 marks the second consecutive year the figures have climbed, noting that in 2019, 86 persons were fatally shot by the security forces.  

Campbell said since January, 19 fatal shootings have occurred, two more than the entire months of January and February last year. 

“February is not yet concluded but there is evidence of the same early increase in the pattern to that of the 2017/2018 years when by the end of January/ February over 20 people had been fatally wounded and the end of year totals were 168 and 137, respectively,” Campbell said. 

However, he noted that there is a longer-term trend of a significant fall in fatal shootings by the security forces. 

Campbell said between 2005 and 2021, 3,105 people were shot dead by the security forces.

He said after examining the 17-year period in two parts, a reduction is evident. 

For the nine-year period between 2005 and 2013, two thousand one hundred and forty five people were killed, translating to over 200 fatalities by the security forces per year. 

For the eight-year period between 2014 and 2021, nine hundred and sixty people were killed, amounting to just over 100 people killed per year.  

“Those two timeframes represent a 55 per cent reduction in fatal shootings and clearly this last year we will not see an increase to ever match what was in the first period. So, there has been some significant change, albeit slow on the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) cultural practices primarily in their operation of cultural shootings,” said Campbell. 

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