JFJ again raises questions about police use of lethal force

 

 

Human rights group, Jamaicans for Justice, says an individual involved in an altercation with the police should not lose his or her life unless there is an immediate and proportionate threat to life. 

 

JFJ Executive Director Mickel Jackson says Sunday's fatal shooting in Granville, St. James raises serious questions about the use of lethal force and risks being perceived as extrajudicial.

 

Ms. Jackson adds that the swift action of the Police High Command to order the interdiction of the policeman involved in the Granville shooting underscores the critical importance of body-worn cameras. 

 

"Because without the availability of that CCTV footage, we would not be in the position to even be having this conversation and we would not perhaps have seen the JFC High Command responding, wherein while respecting the

necessity of the investigation, placing that officer on interdiction. So again, it really brings into sharp focus the importance of the independent footage, the evidence of what happens in these fatal shootings," she contended.

 

Latoya Bulgin, a businesswoman and mother of two, was fatally shot, reportedly during an altercation with police personnel who were responding to a protest.

 

The protest was to highlight an incident in which a 17-year-old boy was killed a week ago in another shooting incident involving the police.

 

Ms. Jackson said further questions remain about the handling of Ms. Bulgin's body and the processing of the scene. 

 

"We're not seeing where there was the preservation of the crime scene and allowing the independent investigators to arrive at the scene, to see how the body was positioned and so on. And I bring it a step further. When you look at the footage and you see the woman's body just being hauled in the street and then being thrown in the back of the service vehicle, then it raises questions about the dignity of person and how we treat even those who the officers may in their judgment deem to be dead," she noted, again expressing alarm at the number of police fatal shootings.

 

According to the police account of events, officers were in the process of dispersing a group of boisterous protesters who were conducting an unauthorised demonstration at Granville Square when they observed a black Toyota Voxy driven by Ms. Bulgin, dropping off protesters. 

 

The police said the vehicle's registration plate was checked and it was discovered that the vehicle was unlicensed. 

 

A police constable approached Ms. Bulgin and informed her of the finding and that the vehicle would be seized. 

 

It's further reported that the constable sought and got the permission of the duty officer to seize the vehicle. 

 

The police said Ms. Bulgin uttered the words "Mi vehicle naah seize today. Mi rather run this over one a unnuh and kill unnuh today!" 

 

She then attempted to drive away, at which time the Constable, who was standing in front of the Voxy, discharged one round in the direction of the vehicle, which stopped. 

 

CCTV footage shows the officer firing into the vehicle.

 

Ms. Bulgin was then pulled from the driver's seat and placed in the back of a police pick-up truck.

 

She was taken hospital, where she was pronounced dead.