JFJ concerned about surge in police fatal shootings

By Halshane Burke    

 

Lobby group Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) is again raising concern over what it says is a surge in the number of fatal shootings by members of the security forces.

 

Executive Director of JFJ Mickel Jackson says the increase has reached an alarming and intolerable level.

 

The Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) reports that since the start of the year, 50 people have been killed in confrontations with the security forces, with 22 recorded this month.

 

This is compared with a total 22 for January and February last year.

 

Ms. Jackson says the number is unacceptable in a democracy and is particularly troubling given the country's size.

 

The JFJ head says the country cannot afford to return to the days when fatal shootings by members of the security forces were commonplace. 

 

"If this trend persists, Jamaica risks regressing to the dark days before the establishment of INDECOM, when accountability for such incidents was virtually nonexistent. If this trend persists, Jamaica risks eroding the gains that we have made since the establishment of INDECOM and certainly the gains that we have made in human rights for the past decade. 

 

If this trend persists, we see the possibility of us recording a significantly high number of police fatal shootings, the highest that we have seen in over a decade, because since the start of 2025, almost every single day, we have seen at least one citizen killed by a member of the security force," she warned. 

 

The JFJ head stopped short of labelling the fatal shootings extrajudicial killings, but noted that INDECOM continues to highlight that "No body worn cameras were recorded as being issued or worn by the officers assigned to these various operations". 

 

Ms. Jackson acknowledged that the JCF leadership has said data storage infrastructure needs to be strengthened to have increased body worn cameras be procured and deployed, however, she insisted that the country must demand a timeline for when this infrastructure will be set up. 

 

"We have also been told by the JCF's leadership that 750 body worn cameras are already deployed and are being utilised. The reasonable question that one should put forward, where are the body worn cameras in these incidents that have resulted in fatalities?" she questioned. 

 

She said based on the current trajectory the country could see more than 250 people killed in alleged confrontations with the security forces by the end of the year.

 

JFJ's concern also follows remarks by National Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang, who dismissed fears about extrajudicial police killings, asserting that the Jamaica Constabulary Force is now a more intelligence-driven organisation that "knows the criminals and will find them".