KINGSTON, Jamaica—Opposition Senator Allan Bernard has called for the establishment of what he calls a digital accountability framework that includes a statutory body-worn camera policy for the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

Bernard made the call on Friday as the Senate debated and passed the amended Cybercrimes Bill of 2026.

He was also speaking against the background of the sharp increase in police fatal shootings which number 115 so far this year, compared to 87 for the comparable period in 2025.

Bernard also noted the recent dismissal of calls by National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang, for the police to wear body cameras on specialised operations, dismissing such calls as a “crazy idea”.

Bernard said the Opposition, while supporting the Cybercrimes Bill, insists that national security must be constitutional security.

“Public safety must be rights-based safety and digital accountability must apply not only to the governed but also to those who are doing the governing; the police, their searches, their seizures, their arrests and too oftentimes in Jamaica, the extrajudicial killings,” he said.

—Lynford Simpson