KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Ministry of National Security is imploring citizens to accept the JamaicaEye programme as it moves towards restoring public order and increasing citizen security.

The ministry said since the launch of the JamaicaEye Programme in March, it registered some 100 private partners, and received more than 41,000 visits to its website.

In addition, it said an overwhelming number of community groups, neighbourhood watch organisations and housing developments have invited the JamaicaEye Team to discuss the programme.

Hundreds of Government-owned cameras have already been installed in Kingston, Montego Bay, St James, Ocho Rios, St Ann, May Pen, Clarendon, and Negril, Westmoreland, with plans to have a total of 1000 cameras rolled out island-wide by the end of this year, the ministry informed in a release today.

In his recent sectoral presentation, National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang reiterated that the Government will continue to take the required steps to address crime and violence and restore public order.

“The Government has embarked on the development of a master plan for our communities to improve public order while simultaneously enhancing access to social amenities. It should be noted that JamaicaEye is the first comprehensive strategy to link not only cameras installed by government but to integrate these with private sector feeds. This is a transformational approach in how we execute public order,” Chang said.

JamaicaEye gives citizens the opportunity to allow “public facing”, privately owned Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) camera feeds to be donated to support the authorities in responding to incidents, natural disasters, acts of criminality and accidents.

The ministry advised that this arrangement allows JamaicaEye to directly record its own footage from these donated camera feeds, and citizens or private business interest will not take part in the investigative process if their camera captures an incident, as through established protocols, all investigative queries will be directed to the JamaicaEye system, not the contributor.

It is crucial that the public understands that the Government is not seeking to breach citizens’ rights or to cause citizens to breach each other’s rights, and assures that the JamaicaEye programme and the information security protection protocols are aligned with global best practices, the ministry said.

Placing members of the security forces everywhere at the same time is impossible; therefore JamaicaEye will allow CCTV cameras to function as a digital extension of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), it added.