RESIDENTS of Sligoville, St Catherine, are convinced that law enforcers are using drones to watch their every move, but the police have said they have no knowledge of this.

That denial, however, has done little to allay the fears of the residents, as they say the “surveillance” has become an unsettling aspect of life in their community, which was, ironically, Jamaica’s first free village.

One resident told the Jamaica Observer that the drones typically appear around 7:00 am and remain until about 10:00 pm, flying low and closely monitoring individuals.

“It’s a well-known thing,” one man, whose identity is being withheld, said.

Another resident also expressed deep concern, claiming to have witnessed heavily disguised “police” conducting raids and allegedly using excessive force against young men in the area.

“It [the drone] flies over the community centre in Sligoville, then moves to James Mountain, and just stays steady — watching wherever we are,” the man, whose identity is also being withheld, stated. “Then the next day, you see a lot of police, masked up. So I think they are using it to see our movement and what we are doing.

“When they come, they tell you exactly what you were doing last night; they are specific. They know who came and who didn’t,” the resident added.

He linked the purported surveillance and increased police presence in the area to the recent death of Othniel Lobban, a notorious figure in Jamaica’s criminal underworld.

Lobban, also known as “Thickman”, was the alleged leader of the One Order Gang. Police said he was a key figure in organised crime in Jamaica, orchestrating hits and extortion across several communities. He was fatally shot in a reported confrontation with the Joint Anti-Gang Task Force at Six Miles, St Andrew, on January 23.

While Lobban was primarily associated with areas like Spanish Town, Eltham Park, and Mountain View, the resident believes that his past ties to Sligoville have unfairly resulted in heightened police scrutiny of their community.

“Because the person that they killed recently comes from this area, they are using it to put everybody in the same category,” the man said. “They are tarnishing the community and targeting young men.”

According to the resident, he started seeing the drones shortly before Lobban’s death and, since then, the police have escalated their operations in Sligoville.

One woman described instances in which the police — wearing masks and without badge numbers displayed — allegedly used force to extract information from young men.

“When they come, they ask for certain people, and when the residents say they don’t know them, the police beat them,” she alleged. “They hit them in their stomachs with guns; these are innocent people.”

The resident believes the police are unfairly targeting youth with no real connection to the former One Order Gang leader.

“They keep saying these little boys know him, but they don’t. These are 17-year-olds, and this man was over 40 and left here in his 20s. If anyone knows him, it’s the older men, but they aren’t the ones being targeted,” she alleged.

“Right now, the boys don’t even want to stay in their community. When the police come, they don’t know if they should run or stand up,” she added. “If they run, the police say they’re guilty of something, but they are running because they don’t want to be beaten.”

According to the resident: “The police are not like before. They say they are the ‘clean-up squad’, and they have come to clean up.”

The residents say they’ve reported the matters, but nothing has been done.

However, when the Sunday Observer visited Sligoville Police Station, the police said they are unaware of any drones in the area. They also said they have not received any reports of residents being harassed by police, which was also confirmed by head of the St Catherine North Police Division, Superintendent Hopton Nicholson.

Senior Superintendent of Police Stephanie Lindsay, head of the Constabulary Communications Network, also said she is not aware of drones being in the area and was unable to comment on whether the use of the unmanned vessels is a common practice for police when conducting operations.

However, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) had, on previous occasions, reported that it continues to use drones to offer aerial support in its operational activities on the ground as part of its crime-fighting strategy. In 2022, the JCF reported that its drone team is trained in the operation of the devices in counter-surveillance, reconnaissance and other activities to support the core functions of the force.

While attorney-at-law Chukwuemeka Cameron has cautioned against immediate speculation that the drones are directly linked to the police, he shared that persistent monitoring of residents constitutes a breach of their constitutional right to privacy.

“It is an illegal act if you do not have a licence from the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority, and secondly, it’s a breach of privacy if it involves persistent surveillance — whether by private citizens or the police,” Cameron told the Sunday Observer. “The police must be conducting a lawful investigation to justify any sustained monitoring that invades private space.”

Explaining what would qualify as persistent surveillance, Cameron said: “If they can identify you and track your movements daily — let’s say every day between 7:00 am and 10:00 pm, and they do so consistently over a week or two — then, unless it’s part of a lawful, targeted investigation, that would be a violation of citizens’ right to privacy.”

As to how residents should respond to what they believe is drone monitoring, he advised that concerned individuals should first try to determine who is conducting the surveillance.

“They should take pictures of the drones then go to the police station to present the images and find out whether the police are responsible for the surveillance. If they are, residents should ask if there is a lawful basis for the operation and what that basis is,” he suggested.

While the police are not required to disclose the details of an investigation, Cameron pointed out that they should confirm whether or not an official operation is under way.

Additionally, he noted that residents have the right to file complaints with the Office of the Information Commissioner, who can investigate whether there is a lawful justification for the surveillance and address potential breaches of privacy.

According to the Sligoville residents, the drones typically fly over their community centre before moving to James Mountain section of the area. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

An image captured by a resident showing what they believe is a drone hovering over a section of their community recently.