KINGSTON, Jamaica — With criticism of police fatal shootings refusing to fade, National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang has renewed his pushback against what he describes as a damaging narrative, insisting it is “abominable” to suggest police are lawlessly killing people.

Chang made the remarks Thursday night during the meeting of Parliament’s Standing Finance Committee, where lawmakers were examining the Ministry of National Security and Peace’s spending ahead of next week’s Budget Debate.

The issue surfaced as Opposition Spokesman on National Security, Fitz Jackson, acknowledged that Jamaica has seen a notable decline in murders in recent years, but said the number of people killed in police operations continues to trouble sections of the public.

Jackson said the concern is real and should not be dismissed simply because it is being raised by the Opposition.

“The concern that the public has, and I’m speaking on my own behalf, there is a significant, increase in fatalities by the police. That’s a matter of record, that’s not an opinion, and it is of concern,” Jackson expressed.

He added that raising the issue in Parliament was not meant as political point-scoring but as part of the Opposition’s duty to reflect public unease.

“And I would like, and the country would like, for that to be addressed in a manner that they feel satisfied… when we raise these concerns as Opposition in this Parliament, it’s not about us as Opposition, it’s on behalf of the country at large, and it ought not to be dismissed,” he added.

Chang, however, strongly rejected the suggestion that police are carrying out unlawful killings, arguing that the debate must be grounded in evidence rather than emotion or speculation.

He said data compiled by the ministry shows a strong statistical relationship between increased police confrontations with criminals and the decline in murders.

According to Chang, the relationship reflects the police strategy of targeting violent gang leaders and repeat offenders who drive much of the country’s serious crime.

“It’s a policy that is used not only by policing, but by international organisations fighting terrorism… if you can get to those, you get the thing under control, and that’s the policy that we’re using,” he said.

He also stressed that fatal police shootings are subject to independent oversight through the Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom), which was created to investigate incidents involving the security forces.

“Indecom was to take that kind of controversy out of the public space and a strong institution exists that can investigate police behaviour and face a shooting and let the criminal justice court system decide whether it was true or not.”

While acknowledging that allegations of wrongdoing must be investigated, Chang warned that portraying the force as an institution engaged in lawless killings could undermine morale and expose officers to greater danger.

He said the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has recruited thousands of young officers in recent years and that it is unfair to depict them as criminals.

“Any suggestion that these Jamaicans are out there to lawlessly wipe out the lives of any people in the community is abominable, unacceptable, and I will always condemn them in the strongest way possible,” he expressed.

The minister’s remarks come against the backdrop of a growing dispute between him and the human-rights group Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ), which has repeatedly raised concerns about the number of people killed during police operations and the need for stronger accountability.

The latest exchange also follows a recent flare-up between Chang and the organisation, after he accused some critics of “living off blood money” — a comment that sparked a sharp response from JFJ and led the group to say it was seeking legal advice.

READ: JFJ seeking legal advice after Chang says its ‘living off blood money’

JFJ has long monitored police fatal shootings and has frequently called for closer scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding those incidents, often pointing to the importance of independent oversight by the Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom).

Chang, however, used the committee meeting to criticise the JFJ and other groups promoting a similar message, stating that they are unfairly portraying the police as operating outside the law.

“I get annoyed with anybody, whether JFJ, human rights, or any of the wannabe pastors, or somebody who will have a platform, want to suggest that all young men are out there killing people lawlessly,” he said.

He argued that such characterisations ignore the fact that thousands of young Jamaicans have joined the police force in recent years and are now working under what he described as a more professional and structured policing system.