WITH a total of 102 civilians being killed by the security forces between January 1 and April 24, the Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) has renewed its call for police and soldiers to be equipped with body-worn cameras when embarking on planned operations.

Indecom Commissioner Hugh Faulkner told the Jamaica Observer on Thursday that 21 people had been killed by the security forces in the first 24 days of April.

Highlighting that Indecom has not become soft in its approach to investigating cases involving the security forces, the commissioner said that charges for murder and other offences have been recommended for a number of the members of the security forces.

“We do investigate them. Last year we got 24 rulings for charge by the [Office of the] Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and of the 24, nine were for fatal shootings. Eight involved the Jamaica Constabulary Force and one involved the Jamaica Defence Force where the officers were charged for murder. [For] three of the 24, let us say that the arrests are pending,” Faulkner said.

“In a few days’ time further rulings for charges will be announced; the protocol is that you advise the necessary parties prior to publication. That is why we say the body-worn camera can give us further information in these matters — especially for planned police operations,” he said.

For all of 2024, there were 189 people who were killed by the security forces. According to the Indecom commissioner, 40 per cent of fatalities in 2024 were from planned police operations, which were about 75 cases.

“It is critical that officers deployed for planned police operations be equipped with body-worn cameras,” he said, adding that an important element of what Indecom does is to recommend to the DPP that charges be laid against members of the security forces who appear to be in breach of the law, following investigations.

“People hardly focus on the charge element. They feel that fatalities is the headliner. We are an oversight body, and part of what we do is where the evidential threshold is met, then we recommend charges. But, the final decision is with the DPP who the Privy Council says must be the prosecutorial authority. Last year, roughly two per month [were recommended by] the DPP for charges. There are some for this year that we will publish soon.”

Attorney Terrence Williams, the man who Faulkner took over from as commissioner of Indecom, also said Thursday that body-worn cameras be used during operations. He pointed out that in other jurisdictions, for police to be allowed to even carry tazers they have to be fitted with body-worn cameras.

“The way in which most police shootings take place is in circumstances where they may be very few or no independent witnesses. Many modern police forces all over the world with fatal shooting rates far lower than Jamaica recognise that [a] body-worn camera is an important tool for police accountability, both in the quality of their service to support the police evidence when they come under attack, or when they discover contraband or illegal things with persons, or to make them accountable when they act excessively and improperly.

“The Jamaican policeman — and certainly every policeman who has a firearm — should have a body-worn camera. This is an important thing that needs to be done to ensure accountability and to support the police evidence when they are right. Sometimes you would hear of a situation where people say how one man can attack five police and that the police must be telling a lie. It does happen sometimes where one man unarmed, or with a knife, or with a stone, would attack the police and the police have to defend themselves,” Williams said.

“People would say they don’t believe that. Modern police forces all over the world with lower rates of shootings have body-worn cameras. I have seen where previously unarmed police forces step up and say they are going to give them tazers, and they say tazers have to come with a body-worn camera. That’s what those forces require. My only intelligent input I can give is that there must be an introduction of body-worn cameras for every policeman issued a a firearm. Every soldier who goes out in support of the police should [also] be issued a body-worn camera,” Williams added.