Police shootings ‘lawful but awful’ says Indecom
The Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) says that while its probes have found that most police shootings are justified, and result in no charges being laid, the body is suggesting that different approaches be employed to reduce fatalities.
The Commission posited this view during Parliament’s Internal and External Affairs Committee examination of Indecom’s reports on Wednesday, at which Opposition member Lisa Hanna questioned why most officers involved in fatal shootings were not charged.
Indecom’s fourth quarter report for 2022 revealed that the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) continued to account for the greatest number of fatal shooting incidents among Jamaica’s security forces, with cops being responsible for over 100 of the total of 134 fatalities for the period.
Deputy Indecom Commissioner Hamish Campbell, who proffered the response, confirmed that the majority of cops are not charged, noting that 95 per cent of all shooting incidents do not result in a charge.
“A great majority of the [police] shootings, to use an American term are ‘lawful but awful’
“So the use of force has been necessary and the individual officer is concerned for his own life or safety of himself or another,” he said.
“But what is happening for a lot of these cases, the tactics and approach could be different in some of the circumstances because, once a police officer draws the gun, there is almost an inevitability about what will happen; he will certainly use it and resulting in death and injury,” he said.
He pointed to the instance of the family or friends of a person with mental issues, calling the police to help them deal with the individual “who has already been causing havoc, distress for the last hour.
“Within about three minutes of most attendances, the person is shot dead,” he said, stressing that the police should have sought to deescalate the situation and use less lethal weapons if necessary instead of using deadly force.
Campbell said the data gathered by Indecom on police shootings has been part of ongoing discussion with the police.
“This is information for [the police] to…consider…how we can change some of these issues,” he said.
“The purpose of the report, that particular study was to generate the debate with the police service primarily because they don’t collect the data in that way and they don’t have the benefit of the time necessary to look at it in that granular detail and it is to engender discussion,” he said.
According to Indecom’s report, during the period July 2020 to June 2021, 14 officers accounted for 112 deaths, with one officer alone accounting for up to 20 deaths.
It also noted that 19 of the 120 men shot and killed had no gun or other weapon, and were subjected to at least 300 rounds fired at them.
The JCF was the only State agency whose officers were charged for incidents investigated by INDECOM in 2022. A total of 15 members were charged during the period.
According to the Commission, the JCF “was solely and directly involved in the fatal shooting of 120 people”, noting that of the number, 16 fatalities concerned off duty officers.