JCF must repair damage to public trust after Cherry Tree Lane fatal shooting - Samuels

 

Attorney-at-law Bert Samuels says the Jamaica Constabulary Force must seek to repair damage to public trust following the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Jahmar Farquharson in Cherry Tree Lane, Clarendon two weeks ago.

 

Mr. Samuels has described the response of the Police High Command to the outcry over the incident as an arrogant and insensitive approach. 

 

The shooting has renewed calls from civil society groups and the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) for the use of body-worn cameras by security forces during planned operations.

 

But the Police High Command has said the calls falsely imply resistance from the Jamaica Constabulary Force, adding that even with the imminent acquisition of 1,000 cameras, there will remain significant coverage gaps due to logistical and financial realities.

 

It added that operational decisions will not be dictated by advocacy groups and INDECOM.

 

Speaking Tuesday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106, Mr. Samuel said the demand from the groups is reasonable.

 

"It's obvious that right-thinking Jamaicans and the Police High Command are now not on the same page. The revolt that has taken place from that video, an incident which happened where eight other persons were murdered earlier last year, I think it was, has left us in a state of rage. How can the police who operate with taxpayers' money be offended by a group asking when and asking that it be now?" he questioned.

 

Civil society advocate Judith Wedderburn said she is distressed by the shooting, adding that it has shifted the public's perception of how the Jamaica Constabulary Force views its right to speak on matters that concern it. 

 

"I am really very distressed that this could represent some early, dangerous times of the leadership of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, not wanting the public to exercise their right to freedom of speech.... Thank you, Bert, for raising the point that if you don't have anything to hide, use the body cameras; the matters of accountability and transparency. And this is against the background of other previous concerns expressed for other occasions," she pointed out.