Murders in Jamaica drop but activists alarmed at rise in fatal police shootings

Jamaican officials person hailed a crisp simplification successful murders but rights campaigners pass that tackling transgression should not travel astatine the disbursal of accountability amid an “alarming” emergence successful fatal constabulary shootings.

Already burdened with the highest homicide rates successful the region, Jamaica has precocious struggled with a surge successful gang-related violence. But the fig of murders per capita has been falling this year, with a marked diminution betwixt January and April.

“April 2025 has marked different historical milestone. For the 2nd clip this year, we person recorded the lowest fig of murders successful implicit 2 decades,” Dr Kevin Blake, the constabulary commissioner, said successful a statement.

He added that this “progress is not accidental” but a effect of “careful planning, tireless execution, and a committedness to excellence” by the Jamaica Constabulary Force, the Jamaica Defence Force and their strategical partners.

According to Blake, compared to the aforesaid play past year, betwixt January and April, determination has been an 18% diminution successful wide large crimes, and murders are down by 37%.

“These are not conscionable statistics. Each fig represents lives saved, communities stabilised, and a awesome that the tide is turning,” helium said.

But the quality rights radical Jamaican for Justice (JFJ) has raised concerns astir a corresponding “significant and alarming increase” successful fatal constabulary shootings successful the aforesaid period.

According to Jamaica’s constabulary complaints authority, the Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom), 111 radical were fatally changeable by information forces betwixt January and April 2025, compared 44 successful the aforesaid play past twelvemonth – a 152% increase.

Indecom is calling for strengthened accountability done mechanisms specified arsenic body-worn cameras amid an “elevated summation successful usage of unit by the State”.

Their concerns and recommendations are echoed by JFJ, which precocious staged a protestation against the “significant and alarming” summation successful fatal shootings by police.

Joining the calls for much body-worn cameras, JFJ’s enforcement director, Mickel Jackson, said: “Outside of the numbers, which successful and of itself calls for greater scrutiny, we person received complaints, wherever citizens are giving a antithetic relationship from the police’s authoritative account.” She added that determination are instances wherever amateur videos contradict constabulary accounts of fatal shootings.

These “conflicting accounts”, she said, are “enough to instrumentality intermission and surely to advocator for body-worn cameras”.

Carla Gullotta, the enforcement manager for the quality rights radical Stand Up For Jamaica stressed the value of gathering relations betwixt the constabulary and radical successful “fragile and volatile areas”.

Katrina Chin, whose cousin, Andrew Richards, 39, was killed by constabulary successful January, besides called for greater transparency from police. Indecom is still investigating Richards’s shooting, but his household has maintained that helium was innocent.

Recalling the greeting that she watched her cousin’s assemblage being removed from his location covered by a expanse aft an aboriginal greeting defence forces raid, Chin said: “I recognize that our state earnestly has a occupation with crime. We’re not denying that.”

The JFJ’s work, she added, is not anti-police. “We’re conscionable advocating for it to beryllium done the close way. We can’t conscionable beryllium truthful hopeless to little our transgression complaint that we’re consenting to termination guiltless people,” she said.

She added that politicians should beryllium cautious that, successful their defence of constabulary actions, they are not “fueling” the presumption that the constabulary are “untouchable”.

Ahead of the JFJ protestation against the summation successful killings, for which they asked their supporters to deterioration black, a counter-protest was launched connected societal media, which invited radical to deterioration bluish successful enactment of the police. Major businesses specified arsenic Jamaica’s fashionable pharmacy chain, Fontana, supported the “blue” campaign.

Executive manager Kevin O’Brien Chang said helium and unit decided to deterioration bluish due to the fact that the plummeting transgression rates are making radical consciousness safer. “Every day, the constabulary and soldiers enactment their lives connected the line, and they wage the eventual price,” helium said.

During the protest, the Jamaican premier minister, Andrew Holness, was pictured successful a bluish suit speaking to a constabulary superintendent, with local media reporting that helium wore bluish to enactment the counter-protest.

Addressing concerns astir the expanding fig of killings by police, Holness reportedly said: “Obviously, the JCF’s accrued activities successful interdicting criminals and successful dealing with the gangs would person caused a important summation successful the nonaccomplishment of beingness of those who challenged them. But I deliberation the state should besides recognize that the pack warfare is astatine a level wherever we indispensable respond and respond decisively.”

Blake, the constabulary commissioner, defended his officers, saying: “We are a disciplined, modern instrumentality enforcement bureau with a law mandate to service and support each Jamaicans without fear, favour oregon sick will.”

Jackson stressed that everyone, including the police, has the close to support themselves. But, she added, “you tin enactment the constabulary and inactive beryllium pro-accountability. You tin enactment the constabulary and the simplification successful execution rates and their efforts, and inactive telephone for the body-worn cameras.”

The constabulary themselves would payment from having the autarkic relationship from a camera, she said, adding she was disappointed to spot the caput of authorities appearing to take sides, adjacent if that was not his intention.

“A telephone for accountability should ne'er beryllium seen arsenic anti-police, and this was a moment, successful my humble opinion, that I judge that the premier curate of the state should person travel retired and accidental that ‘I basal with instrumentality enforcement officers – but I enactment the telephone for accrued accountability,’” she said.