THE Independent Commission of Investigation (INDECOM) last week urged Government to review the police’s Use of Force Policy if it wants to minimise the instances of police killings in Jamaica.

The call was made by Terrence Williams, INDECOM’s commissioner, who described components of the Use of Force policy as antiquated and uncertain. Williams made specific mention of the ‘Fleeing Felon’ component, which enables the police to fatally shoot a criminal who is attempting to escape the scene of a felony.

He was speaking at a news conference at INDECOM’s head office in New Kingston last Wednesday.

According to the law: “If persons who are pursued by these officers for a felony or the just suspicion thereof… shall not yield themselves to these officers… And though where a felon flying from justice is killed by the officer in pursuit, the homicide is justifiable if the felon could not otherwise be overtaken.”

Williams, however, found fault with this clause. He said that the law does not comply with Jamaica’s revised Charter of Rights launched in 2011.

“That means that whoever is exercising the power to arrest will have to be able to understand the distinction between a felony and a misdemeanour, which is a legal distinction, one that if I would try to explain would take a whole lecture,” he said.

“Stealing a handkerchief is a felony because it is larceny, but you may think that it is not a grave enough crime for you to use deadly force to apprehend the person.

“The new Charter of Rights has reaffirmed our right to life and must call all existing laws, including those common law principles to be examined,” he said.

“The trouble is that the police officer may be left in an unsure position. Is this old common law rule still applicable or is there a new rule based upon the charter of rights? It is a situation which would cause lawyers to debate. But one can’t expect a police officer to debate legal principles when they have to act,” he continued, stating that the use of force must be proportionate to the magnitude of the crime committed by the offender.

It should be restricted, he said, to serious offences involving bodily harm. It must also be that the fleeing person is an immediate threat to himself, the officer, or persons in his surroundings, before deadly force is employed.

Asked to describe bodily harm, Williams suggested wounds such as a gunshot, a cut or maiming as opposed to a slap on the face, which even if the police cannot catch the criminal, would not require the use of deadly force.

“It is a simpler judgement than what the law is asking the police to make now, because the law is asking them to make a felony/misdemeanour judgement, and I bet you that if you ask a lawyer about the distinction he would have to give you a lecture, it is not a simple distinction,” he argued.

In the meantime, Williams expressed concerns that INDECOM is not notified whenever police under investigation are returned to frontline duties.

“Now we think that if we are the primary investigator, it would be wise of the JCF to ask us what is the current status of the investigation,” he said, noting that the commission is not trying to dictate how the police should run their organisation.