FATAL RED FLAG

In one of every five planned police operations in which a civilian is killed at home, a female occupant of the premises is either removed or barred from the ill-fated area moments before the cops opened fire.

According to the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), this troubling pattern is becoming a hallmark of deadly police raids – mirroring other persistent failures such as tampering with CCTV footage, failure to activate body-worn cameras, improper handling of weapons and evidence, and the widespread use of flawed search warrants. In these operations, witnesses – often women or young children – are routinely removed from the scene before a so-called “shootout” begins.

INDECOM raised these concerns in its newly released Special Investigative Report on Planned Police Operations, unveiled during a press conference at its Dumfries Road offices in New Kingston on Thursday. The commission emphasised the increasing number of fatal encounters involving police officers.

Between January 1 and September 30 of this year, 67 officers have come under investigation for alleged use of excessive force. Of those, 49 have been charged with murder. The trend in fatal police shootings has risen steadily over the years, with 127 in 2021, 134 in 2002, 155 in 2023, and 189 in 2024.

Up to September 2025, the police have killed 233 civilians – with no month recording fewer than 20 fatal shootings. April was the deadliest, with 30 civilians killed, while September recorded the lowest toll at 22.

Most of these deaths occurred during planned operations, yet only one such incident in 2024 involved a lead officer wearing a body camera – an officer who also discharged his weapon. Ironically, that camera was not recording. The officer claimed he had turned it off while using the bathroom and forgot to reactivate it.

In five other non-fatal shooting cases in 2024, officers offered the same excuse: they simply “forgot” to turn on their cameras. INDECOM has rejected this explanation, especially during planned raids, stating that the absence of functioning body cameras “undermines the constitutional necessity to ensure and safeguard the life of citizens, secure ‘best evidence’ and demonstrate that all necessary steps are taken”.

Highlighting concerns about the removal of witnesses, INDECOM referenced a 2023 case where police arrived at a home and were met by a woman at the door. Inside was a man known to the police and out on bail. Officers reported that the woman “chose to leave the property to urinate” shortly before the man allegedly attempted to use a firearm.

Conversely, however, the report from the woman suggests that after the door was opened, the man stood behind and held on to her. The officers had a brief conversation with them before pulling the woman from the house to the verandah. The woman said she then saw a policeman point a rifle at the man inside the house and open fire.

“The cases are illustrative of the frequent contradiction observed in the testimony of both police and citizens, in which all officers corroborate each other but are vehemently contradicted by one (sometimes more) non-police witnesses. Of the 108 PPOs (planned police operations) in this review, some 31 per cent had conflicting witness accounts given to the commission,” explained Hamish Campbell, assistant commissioner of INDECOM.

Campbell explained further that “in the three years 2022-2024, there were 108 fatal PPOs, and of those incidents search warrants were obtained to enter private property in 77 operations. Thirty-one operations did not have any warrants, while 18 of 77 warrants were secured by citing obsolete legislation under, either the 1967 Firearms Act or an even older statute of the Gunpowder and Explosives Act of 1925. The correct legislation for seeking firearms search warrants is under Section 91 of the Firearms (Prohibition, Restrictions and Regulations) Act 2022, which came into effect in 2022.

Yanique Taylor-Wellington, director of complaints at INDECOM, said the matter of faulty search warrants may be one requiring retraining or interventions on the part of justices of the peace, who authorise the search warrants.

Unlike in the US where the fruit of the poison tree doctrine prohibits the use of evidence obtained illegally, which would essentially nullify evidential finds made during the execution of faulty search warrants, that is not the case in Jamaica, explained Taylor-Wellington, adding that locally, such faultily obtained evidence is still admissible in court.

Additionally, INDECOM reported that in 50 of the 108 incidents it examined, the illegal weapon reportedly found in the possession of the dead men was not fired, although it was reported as either being seen or pointed at the officers. In 58 cases where it was reported that the weapon was fired at officers, mostly in close quarters, no officer was fatally wounded.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com

INDECOM recommendations

Among the recommendations listed by INDECOM, following from the study are:

* That a senior officer rank of inspector or above be present on all planned operations, and that junior officers at constable or sergeant rank should not be undertaking ‘snap raids’.

*That planned operations and entry to private homes to search or arrest should always be accompanied by a search warrant, unless other legislation exempts the necessity of a warrant.

*That consideration be given for Justices of the Peace to time their authorisations, in addition to the date on a search warrant. All warrants should be legible to identify the JP authorising the document.

*Greater regard to the control of persons once confronted and detained prior to searching. Such persons should be physically restrained from being able to seize or gain access to any firearm or weapon once under police control.