Data collection infrastructure set up for police body cameras, says Blake

By Clinton McGregor   

 

Police Commissioner Dr. Kevin Blake says the wearing of body-worn cameras by the police will soon be a permanent feature of the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

 

INDECOM has been vocal over the last several years about members of the force not being fitted with body-worn cameras during police operations.

 

The Commission has asserted that the absence of body-worn cameras has hampered its investigation of controversial police shootings.

 

But speaking with the media in western Jamaica on Friday, Commissioner Blake rubbished claims that members of the force were resistant to wearing the cameras.

 

He argued that over the last few years, the Police High Command has been installing the required data collection centre in order to get the body-worn camera programme off the ground. 

 

"We have been working over the past two to three years, building up that infrastructure, strengthening our infrastructure data centre, ensuring that our network communications are adequate, and so that we can properly manage the products from these body-worn cameras. Now that we have completed that, the next part of the project is to actually procure body-worn cameras and pin them on to our members, and this is the easy part," he said. 

 

Anti-gang progress  

 

In the meantime, Commissioner Blake said the police have been reaping success in targeting criminal gangs and the leaders of criminal networks in western Jamaica.

 

The Police Commissioner said the new team installed at the Area 1 Police Headquarters, which covers Trelawny, St. James, Westmoreland, and Hanover, has been successful in curtailing violent attacks, seizing illegal guns and apprehending wanted fugitives over the last few weeks.

 

"There's an excellent synergy that I see happening here in the space and what is heartening in all of this is how eloquently each member can speak to the objective, to the goal, and to the targets that we have set. And so, all in all, I am very happy that these officers...actually understand the vision, understand the goal and they are executing it seamlessly," said the commissioner.