KINGSTON, Jamaica – Cabinet has approved the Ministry of National Security’s Strategic Master Plan to expand the JamaicaEye surveillance network.

Portfolio Minister, Horace Chang, made the disclosure as he opened the 2025/26 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The plan will roll out an additional 2,500 cameras islandwide over a three-year period.

“These cameras will have all the qualities required. We have taken the time to study where they should be located, as they cannot be allowed to invade anybody’s privacy, but they also have to be at a location where we can catch what we want to catch,” Dr Chang said.

“They will have licence-recognition capacity, and they will have facial recognition capacity. Therefore, you can place them at strategic locations that not only monitor what is happening, but you will find the vehicles that are [breaking the law],” he added.

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is making strides towards full digitisation.

To support this, the ministry will hand over an additional 1,000 rugged handheld ticketing devices and 1,500 mobile printers in the coming weeks.

Chang said this will bring the total to more than 6,000 devices, enabling a complete shift to digital ticketing and smarter, more consistent traffic enforcement.

The Government is also expanding its forensic capabilities.

The national security minister informed that the soon-to-be-opened state-of-the-art Forensic Pathology Autopsy Suite will further enhance intelligence and evidence gathering through science and technology.

–         JIS