Editorial | Cameras to cops on specially planned operations

The disclosure by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) that it has received the 1,000 body-worm cameras (BWCs) it had on order is a welcome development.

But the police’s statement on the matter is in need of better particulars to give it the necessary clarity, including the specific units to which the new cameras will be assigned.

For instance, will the wearing of BWCs now be a standard requirement for police on specially planned operations (SPOs), during which a disproportionately high number of fatal shootings take place? Or is that to happen after the receipt of the next tranche of 1,000 cameras in the next fiscal year, which begins on April 1 and runs until March 31, 2026?

Meanwhile, with the deployment of the additional BWCs, it is important that the JCF make public the regulations governing their use.

This covers issues such as

• the point during encounters between citizens and the police that officers are required to turn on their BWCs.

• the sequence for the uploading of footage and the writing-up of incident reports - which comes first.

• who manages and guarantees the integrity of the captured and stored data.

• the public’s right of access to images captured by the police’s body-worn cameras.

Indeed, sharing this information would be in keeping with the constabulary’s cherished commitment to transparency and is necessary to ensure that the JCF’s scheme of arrangements meets global best practices.FULL COMMENDATIONS

The announcement of the acquisition of the additional cameras follows a good year for the JCF, and Jamaicans, with respect to the enhancement of citizens’ security.

The 673 murders reported in Jamaica in 2025 were 42 per cent fewer than the previous year’s 1,147. It was the first time in 31 years that Jamaica recorded fewer than 700 intentional homicides. And last year’s downward movement followed declines of seven per cent and 18 per cent, respectively, in 2023 and 2024.

Moreover, Jamaica has, in three years, halved a murder rate that previously hovered at 50 per 100,000 and its edging to the regional average of 15/100,000.

The constabulary deserves full commendations for these achievements.

The gains notwithstanding, there is no denying the growth of a worrying trend of policing in Jamaica: a steep rise in fatal shootings by cops.

In 2025, there were 311 killings by the security, almost all by the police. That represented a 64 per cent hike in fatal shootings compared to 2024 when there was an increase of 24 per cent compared to 2023. And 2023 had 16 per cent more fatal shootings than the year before.

Two things are especially notable about these fatal shootings: none has ever been captured by a body-worn camera and upwards of 40 per cent occur during SPOs, when cops are expected to have done, as the title suggests, pre-operations planning and risk analyses. However, friends and family of the victims often dispute the police’s version of events.

The police’s explanation for their high, and increasing, numbers of fatal shootings, is that they often confront violent criminals with guns or other weapons. Cops are forced to defend themselves and citizens.

Regarding why teams on SPOs didn’t wear cameras, the constabulary (when it had only 700 BWCs) said their assignment was prioritised to officers working in areas of public safety, with frequent encounters with citizens.

CEMENT THE PUBLIC’S TRUST

But given the high incidence of fatalities associated with SPOs, The Gleaner – like human rights groups and the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), the agency that investigates police shootings and complaints of abuse – is firm that some of the available cameras ought to have been designated for teams engaged in specially planned operations.

“The Axon Body Camera III devices are now at an advanced stage of deployment, with particular focus on formations of the Force that experience high levels of citizen engagement,” the JCF said. “Deployment is being guided by operational need, training readiness, and established governance protocols.”

Importantly, though, the JCF noted that the BWCs, those in hand and those being procured, “create an objective and verifiable record of police-citizen interactions, holding all parties to a clear standard of lawful and responsible conduct”.

“They protect the rights of citizens while also safeguarding police officers who operate within the law, reducing false allegations, resolving disputes through evidence, and strengthening professional oversight,” it added.

There is absolutely nothing impeachable in those observations, which, therefore, highlights the logic of deploying body-worn cameras to groups, or formations, that are involved in disproportionately high levels of fatal shootings and face allegations of using excessive force against criminal suspects. And once so deployed, the police High Command must ensure that the BWCs are used.

Such a move would be part of the police’s ongoing effort to rebuild and cement the public’s trust in the institution.

The police have made gains on this front with the low in the murder rates. The JCF must now go all the way with respect to the accountability to which it is committed.