KINGSTON, Jamaica — A Supreme Court judge has ruled that senior members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) overstepped their legal authority in disciplining a policewoman for posting a video on TikTok that was said to have brought the force into disrepute.

The controversial TikTok video, posted in January 2024, showed three uniformed cops participating in a viral trend. In the clip, the law enforcement personnel quipped, “I am a police officer in Jamaica, of course mi a go skip the KFC line… I am a police officer, criminals going escape in nearby bushes…I am a police officer, mi a go use the siren get out a traffic.”

READ: JCF High Command takes disciplinary actions against cops participating in viral TikTok trend

The woman constable was later sanctioned, including being subjected to a six-month confinement at the National Police College of Jamaica (NPCJ).

In a formal order issued on January 15, the Supreme Court held that Deputy Commissioner of Police Richard Stewart acted outside the Police Service Regulations when he ordered Constable Miskha Sterling-Gibson to a period in excess of three days confinement training on January 29, 2024.

The court also ruled that then Senior Superintendent of Police, Michael Phipps, exceeded his authority by imposing an additional punishment during an orderly room hearing on March 22, 2024, despite Sterling-Gibson having already been sanctioned for the same incident.

“The decision of Deputy Commissioner of Police Richard Stewart and Senior Superintendent of Police Michael Phipps, having been quashed, it is hereby declared that the claimant had already served the sanction legitimately arising from the social media video that gave rise to this sanction and is not liable to serve any further punishment in relation hereto,” Justice Tania Mott Tulloch-Reid said.

The court further ruled that each party is to bear his or her costs in the claim.