Dear Editor,

The disturbing killing of a woman during a protest in St James has once again forced Jamaica into an uncomfortable but necessary national conversation: How much force is too much force, and who watches those entrusted with the power to use it?

According to reports, 45-year-old Latoya Bulgin was fatally shot by a police officer during a stop connected to police crowd-control operations during protests in the Granville community of St James. Video footage circulating publicly intensified outrage, particularly as questions emerged about the handling of the scene and the treatment of the victim afterwards.

This tragedy cannot simply become another fleeting headline swallowed by the next news cycle. It highlights a deeper issue that Jamaica has wrestled with for years — the tension between public security and public trust. Citizens want protection from crime and violence, but they also want assurance that law enforcement officers operate within the bounds of professionalism, accountability, and respect for human life.

The reality is that trust in policing cannot survive on official statements alone. In an era when cellphone videos and closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage increasingly challenge official narratives, transparency is no longer optional; it is essential. This is why the wider implementation of body-worn cameras across the Jamaica Constabulary Force is urgently needed.

Body cameras are not anti-police tools. They are accountability tools that protect both civilians and officers. They provide critical evidence during disputed encounters, discourage misconduct, and help establish facts in emotionally charged situations. Imagine what the narrative from the police might have been if there were no footage available.

In many countries, body cameras have reduced complaints against officers while also protecting police from false accusations. Most importantly, they help rebuild public confidence by ensuring that interactions are documented rather than left entirely to competing accounts.

But cameras alone are not enough. Transparency must be matched by independent oversight and timely investigations. Institutions such as Independent Commission of Investigations play a critical role, but their effectiveness depends on public confidence that investigations are thorough, impartial, and free from political or institutional interference. Delayed accountability only deepens public suspicion and social unrest.

At the same time, Jamaica must avoid reducing this conversation to simplistic anti-police rhetoric. The country continues to battle serious crime and gang violence — even though we celebrate the drop in murders — and many officers serve under dangerous and psychologically taxing conditions. Supporting the police and demanding accountability are not contradictory positions. A professional police force should welcome systems that strengthen integrity, improve public trust, and distinguish lawful policing from abuse.

What Jamaica needs now is not defensiveness, political point-scoring, or selective outrage. It needs courage — the courage to confront uncomfortable truths about policing culture, use of force, and the erosion of public confidence. Every controversial killing that lacks transparency weakens the fragile relationship between citizens and the State.

If lives are to be protected and trust restored, body cameras should become standard, investigations must remain independent, and accountability should never depend on public pressure or viral footage. Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done.

Oneil Madden

maddenoniel@yahoo.com