ROCK, Trelawny — Head of the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) Terrence Williams says the time has come or members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to rely on less lethal devices, especially during confrontation with the mentally challenged.

He recommended that cops be optionally equipped with Tasers, even as he conceded that they will be costly.

“One of those options is the Taser, which can bring a person down without life being lost to that person and to bystanders. It will have some cost, but the Jamaican police force needs to have these kind of devices to increase the options of the police when it deals with mentally ill persons,” Williams remarked.

“What will it take for us to so arm our police with these options? Will it have to be someone in “society” whose mentally ill brother is killed for that difference to be made,” he questioned.

Williams was speaking Tuesday night at the weekly meeting of the Falmouth Rotary Club at the Glistening Waters Restaurant in Rock, Trelawny.

According to Williams, the recommendation for the police to be armed with less deadly weapons was included in his 2013 report to Parliament, which the Government has so far ignored.

“Certainly, we spoke about it in 2013, we made recommendation and so far nothing has been done. The time has come now for something to be done about giving the police less lethal options,” Williams claimed.

“Well at INDECOM we pledge to treat every loss of life at the hands of the State in the same way, by the same in-depth and independent investigation. That is our pledge. And we intend to do that by resilience and persistence,” he added.