OPPOSITION spokesman on matters related to Portmore Fitz Jackson says a next People’s National Party (PNP) Government will “accelerate the use of body-worn cameras by members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF)”.

Jackson, who is the Member of Parliament for St Catherine Southern, gave the commitment on Tuesday during his contribution to the 2025/26 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives.

“Body-worn cameras protect both civilians and officers. If we can justify their use in low-risk situations abroad, we must demand them here where the stakes are life and death,” he remarked.

He added: “Body-worn cameras are essential to show whether the force used was justified, as well as to protect both lives and truth. The inconsistencies revealed through body-worn camera footage in countless instances underscore how vital these tools are – not only for ensuring accountability – but also for protecting the integrity of the justice system.”

According to Jackson, “Justice cannot be reduced to hollow rhetoric; it demands concrete, unwavering action.

“We assure every Jamaican that any practice of the police that seeks to undermine respect and all that we expect in a free and democratic society will not go unattended. After all, it is the trust and collaboration between the security authorities, inclusive of MOCA (Major Organised Crime & Anti-Corruption Agency), the JDF (Jamaica Defence Force) and others, that is imperative and indispensable to achieving a sustainable, safe and secure Jamaica,” he said.

Jackson’s comments came on the same day that human rights group Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) staged a demonstration in protest of a sharp increase in police fatal shootings that are at least 106 since the start of the year. The JCF has insisted that those killed have engaged its members in shoot-outs.

Jackson told the House that “no one is denying Jamaica’s crime problem, but accountability and public safety go hand in hand. The JCF, while striving to serve and protect, must respect the rule of law.

“In order for us to begin to address crime, citizens and the State need to work together. This cannot be achieved if there is a low level of trust between citizens and the JCF. What we need is a fully competent, motivated, and resourced team,” he added.

Meanwhile, Jackson, a former Opposition spokesman on national security, welcomed the increased enlistment in the complement of the JCF.

When he opened the sectoral debate earlier on Tuesday, national security minister Dr Horace Chang stated that 6,000 new members had enlisted in the JCF over the past several years.

“We are also aware that while enlistment has been a challenge, retention was perhaps a greater challenge. In this regard, the next PNP Administration will prioritise dealing with those issues that will further encourage police officers to remain in the organisation,” Jackson said.

He noted that when he was growing up as a child, it was competitive to become a police officer, it being a profession of choice. “We must endeavour to once again, let being a police officer, a career of choice,” he declared.

“It is for these reasons that I assure all rank-and-file members and officers of the JCF, that a Government of the PNP will have your back in your chosen career of service to your country, our country. Jamaica needs the best that you all can offer to be a safe, secure, and harmonious country for all,” he said.

Meanwhile, Jackson said “the recent 30 per cent reduction in murders in 2024 is a welcome shift after eight years of escalating violence under the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Administration”.

But he argued that “this decline follows a grim reality: under this JLP Administration, regrettably more Jamaicans have been murdered than under any previous two-term administration. Had the Government maintained and strengthened the PNP’s pre-2016 strategies it inherited, less people would have been murdered. Indeed, that would have accelerated the downward trajectory begun under the PNP”.

Continuing, Jackson said, “This decline, while encouraging, is fragile. Jamaica’s homicide rate remains among the highest globally, compounded by unchecked financial crimes and mass shootings. The JLP’s reliance on states of emergency (SOEs) as a blunt instrument that eroded community trust and damaged livelihoods proved disastrous. Their approach mirrored ‘net fishing’, indiscriminately sweeping up innocent young men and children while failing to dismantle criminal networks.”

The PNP, he said, had long championed a balanced approach to security, one that pairs enforcement with prevention. He said Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake’s “recent endorsement of focused deterrence — targeting the one per cent responsible for 70 per cent of violence — validates our stance”.

Jackson also said a future PNP Government will commit the necessary resources to the JCF, and its allied entities, to ensure continued and widened success in sustained crime reduction and citizens’ security.