.png)
Justice Minister Delroy Chuck has expressed support for the police, asserting that a significant number of police fatal shootings are justifiable.
Addressing the matter at a Justices of the Peace forum at Church Teachers' College in Mandeville on Thursday, he said the authorities will not allow gunmen to destroy the country.
He argued that the law gives the police the power to use deadly force if confronted by armed suspects.
"The law says you must not use excessive force; you must use reasonable force to apprehend criminals," he stressed, adding an analogy: "If the criminal is using a toothpick; you don't expect the police to be using deadly force, but if the criminal has a gun, it may well be that deadly force is, in fact, reasonable force, and that is the law!"
In that regard, he attributed to the Independent Commission of investigations [INDECOM], reports to the effect that "eighty or ninety per cent of the cases, they are able to say justifiable force was used, even though the gunman was killed."
But INDECOM's Commissioner, Hugh Faulkner, speaking at the same function, urged the Police High Command to consider using its comparative data on the number of fatal shootings to review the circumstances which led to the incidents.
Up to April 2, there had been 85 fatal shootings during alleged confrontations between the police and criminals.
Mr Faulkner said the high number of fatalities, over a relatively short period, was of concern.
"At the end of March... 81 persons were fataly injured, and we reached 81, in 2023, in July... so that is the concern... The police can review their activities, to decide whether something can be done differently to ensure that there's less loss of life."
"We find the numbers to be high but we do not make a conclusionary comment on the incidence," he said.
He reiterated the need for body-worn cameras, especially during planned operations.
comments powered by Disqus
All feeds
