Criminologist takes aim at civil society groups over stance on police killings
Published:Wednesday | January 7, 2026 | 12:10 AM
Dr Jason McKay, criminologist and police officer attached to the St Catherine South police’s special operations unit, is warning that constant statements by civil-society groups and the Independent Commission of Investigation (INDECOM), casting doubt on the security forces’ versions of fatal shootings, could significantly reverse gains made in reducing murders by 41 per cent last year.
Noting recent public statements by INDECOM, the Lawyers Christian Fellowship, Jamaicans For Justice, and, most notably, a parting missive fired at the security forces by former INDECOM boss Hamish Campbell regarding police fatal shootings, which reached 311 in 2025, McKay said numbers don’t lie.
“Is it a coincidence that the decrease in gun-related homicides, 41 per cent, coincides with more gunmen being killed in 2025 while engaging the security forces in shoot-outs, effectively taking deadly weapons and parish-hopping contract killers off the country’s streets?
“Apart from the usual misinformed and unsubstantiated rhetoric from JFJ, I found most irresponsible a statement by the former INDECOM head, Hamish Campbell,” McKay noted.
“How could Campbell admit in a Gleaner interview that there is ‘a large number of gunmen in Jamaica and a large number of criminals’ engaged in killing citizens and who are confronting the police then in the same breath, state, ‘but the point which we have made time and again is, the alleged confrontations, in many cases, are not true. And if they are not true, then how are they being shot?’
“How are they being shot? If there is a large number of criminals killing citizens and engaging the police when cornered, what does Campbell, INDECOM, and JFJ expect will happen?” McKay asked.
Pointing out that most specialised operations take place in the wee hours of the morning in communities besieged, in the name of “protection”, by gunmen, McKay said the security forces cannot announce themselves from the mouths of, at times, zinc-lined lanes.
DEADLY FORCE
“What happens in these instances is that gunmen who are taken by surprise will react with deadly force, shooting in a manner that has killed many members of the security forces and civilians in their bid to get away.
“Take note of the shootings that happen during daylight hours in full view of the public. Did anybody see ‘Brownman’ backing down from an entire regiment of police and soldiers in Mandeville last September?
“Didn’t everybody see how and why ‘Brownman’ was shot and killed? That was a three-hour standoff, in broad daylight, which still ended with the gunman being killed and members of the security forces injured.
“What if ‘Brownman’ was surprised and fatally shot during an early morning shoot-out? You would have probably heard how he was a quiet neighbour, a returning resident who never bothered a soul, a matter which would fall under Campbell’s ‘confrontations which are not true’,” McKay pointed out, reminding of August 2021 when three policemen, including an inspector, were killed in separate incidents by a lone gunman.
“Damion Hamilton had shot and killed two policemen in Horizon Park, Spanish Town, when surprised earlier that morning. After intelligence took the police to Cooreville Gardens, Hamilton again engaged the officers, resulting in his death, and regrettably, that of Inspector Leon Clunis, who had led the Horizon Park operation and was among four policemen shot by Hamilton.
Noting Campbell’s statement that in his first two years on the job at INDECOM the number of police fatal shootings was slashed from 258 in 2013 to 115 the following year and 101 in 2015 before a historic low of 86 in 2019, McKay sarcastically agreed that the oversight body, had, indeed, had an impact on how cops operated.
“The act makes INDECOM a crusader, which impacts its ability to be independent, and as Campbell, in his parting statement has shown, an unfair voice against police officers, which will affect morale and work standards.
“Here are some figures for Campbell, INDECOM, and JFJ to ponder. The historic low of 86 police fatal shootings in 2019 was accompanied by an increase in murders, 1,340, up from 1,291 in 2018,” McKay pointed out.
“There was a slight dip of six murders, 1,334, in 2020, before jumping to 1,479 in 2021 and 1,516 in 2022, before morale was restored and the figure dropped to 1,406 in 2023 and 1,147 in 2024, followed by 2025’s historic 41 per cent reduction, which is being shrouded by another round of morale-defeating statements.
“Intelligence is not evidence. If there is evidence then you charge the offender. Campbell and civil-society groups cannot stay on their verandahs and say that the police accounts are not true if they have no evidence,” he contended.