Body-worn cameras capture police shooting in St James - Security expert pleased but wants to see greater use of the gadget

Western Bureau:

Reports that a policeman was equipped with a body-worn camera that captured an incident in which he shot and injured a man recently in Salt Spring, St James, have been hailed by a security expert as the type of accountability that the Jamaican people want to see.

“This is what the public wants to see as, in this case, the recording shows exactly what happened, which has eliminated the need for speculation and misinformation,” said the ex-lawman, who asked not to be identified for security reasons.

“It is of critical importance that the public can trust the police, and the wearing of the body-worn cameras brings that element to the table. This is what the public has been calling for, especially in questionable shootings.”

The ex-lawman, who has extensive experience both locally and internationally, said he did not support the reasons being given by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) about not being ready for the full utilisation of body-worn cameras, saying that strategic deployment can fix that problem.

“The JCF currently has some 1,650 body-worn cameras and we have 14 parishes. If we give each parish 100 cameras, there would still be 250 that could be deployed to specialised units, such MOCA (Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency) and the Fugitive Apprehension team, which are the units that are likely to be confronting the hardcore criminals, who might want to challenge them.

“I know of no parish which has more than 10 planned operations on any given day, so 100 cameras would be just about enough for their special operations team,” said the expert, who has served in the JCF.

“There is no need for every single policeman to get a body-worn camera. Those doing desk jobs, patrolling safe spaces — like the school resource officers — really don’t need these cameras.”

Regarding reports that a full roll-out of body-worn cameras is unlikely to happen before 2029, for various reasons, including the training of personnel in the proper use of the security gadget, the expert said the equipment is no more complex than using a smartphone.

“A five-year-old child can operate the camera once the correct software is installed. There is nothing complex about it,” the expert said, while noting that with the police’s credibility under intense pressure after independent CCTV footage of some of their interactions with the public, they should be pushing for the use of the cameras to change the narrative.

“Based on recent incidents captured on independent CCTV cameras, I believe the JCF should be in damage-control mode, which is one of the reasons they should be anxious to have the cameras in use to establish credibility,” he said.

According to the expert, it is critically important that when someone is shot by the police, it can be proven that it was a lawful engagement.

“Children are losing their fathers in shooting incidents involving the police; wives are losing their husbands; and parents are losing their children. The police must be able to show that they acted lawfully, and the body cameras provide that option,” he said,

“Just as how the JCF has developed a use-of-force policy, they should also develop a use-of-camera policy. But in general, all operations that require a warrant should also require the use of body-worn cameras,” he said.

“The JCF has described itself as a force for good, so it must begin to prove that to the public.”

The Gleaner made a written request to the Independent Commission of Investigations, on June 17, seeking information on the number of police fatal shootings in St James and the number of cases in which body-worn cameras were used. The data, however, has not yet been provided. 

Nationally, 156 civilians have been killed by the police in alleged confrontations, but it remains unclear if body-word cameras were in use in any of the incidents. editorial@gleanerjm.com