Police Brutality in Jamaica: Will Body Cameras Solve the Issue?

Human Rights Research Center
3 hours ago
11 min read

August 26, 2026

Introduction

Jamaica regularly finds itself with one of the highest murder rates in the world. Like most other Caribbean countries, Jamaica has a small population, just under 3 million people. Small populations mean that even a few murders can greatly impact the overall murder rate. Most of the murders in Jamaica occur in the inner cities in gang-controlled areas that have faced a lack of economic opportunities and social intervention, resulting in higher crime rates. In the past few years, Jamaica has made a concerted effort to reduce those numbers, with 2025 recording a significantly lower murder rate than previous years, with 2026 on track to see an even more positive trend (Jamaica Constabulary Force, n.d.).

For the first time in over 30 years, the number of murders in 2025 dropped below 700, a record low. Since April of 2026, there has not been a single murder recorded in Saint Andrew, one of Jamaica’s parishes. While a number of factors influence this decrease, most residents believe that the increased police presence in public areas has contributed most effectively (Patterson, 2026). The Ministry of National Security has put forth a deliberate effort to make Jamaica a safer country (Patterson, 2026). This positive step made by the government has not been without negative effects. Despite a decrease in crime, Jamaica has seen a rise in instances of police brutality, according to the Independent Commission of Investigations, which tracks occurrences of police brutality (The Independent Commission of Investigations, 2026). Both the public and the government have called for the Jamaica Constabulary Force, Jamaica’s police force, to have officers wear body cameras as a tool to minimize corruption. Both the Prime Minister and the Ministry of National Security have agreed to implement this technology (OPM Communications, 2026). However, does having the police wear a body camera mean less corruption and safer interactions with law enforcement? Evidence reveals that this outcome is less likely.

Historical Context

To properly contextualize the issue of police use of force, it is important to look at when the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) was founded. In 1865, Paul Bogle led the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica to protest the economic and social inequality that black people faced under British colonial rule (Jamaica Information Service, 2025). After the British quelled this rebellion, they established the JCF to maintain order in society (Jamaica Constabulary Force, 2026). The JCF originated as a reactive institution whose fundamental mandate was to quash any form of civil unrest from the racial majority, the black population. This type of reactionary and repressive policing is common in countries that have a colonial past. In the Bahamas in 1840, for example, foreign soldiers comprised the initial police force, who were kept in isolation to ensure they would remain completely loyal to the colonial government, particularly in the case of any attempted uprising by the newly freed black population (Royal Bahamas Police Force, n.d.).

Police brutality has been a prevalent problem within Jamaican society since the JCF’s initial founding and continues through today. One major incident, known as the Coral Gardens Massacre, occurred in 1963, only one year after Jamaican independence from the United Kingdom. The relationship between the white-centric, post-colonial government and Afro-Jamaicans was always contentious, and the Rastafarians, in particular, suffered. The Rastafarians are followers of Rastafarianism, a religious and social movement created in Jamaica, which focuses on Pan-Africanism and Africa as the spiritual homeland of all Black people. In the Coral Gardens Massacre, the JCF and the government, including then Prime Minister Alexander Bustamante, targeted the Rastafari community (White, 2025). This atrocity came about because some Rastafarians disputed both land rights claims and the newly independent government authorities’ rule over them. Rastafarians, at that time, had been squatting on land owned by societal elites for multiple generations, farming it to make a living. The initial altercation involved a police attack on a Rastafarian farmer, Rudolph Franklyn, which also led to the destruction of his dwelling and crops (White, 2025). Franklyn, who was shot in the stomach by police, and other Rastafarians retaliated by lighting a gas station on fire, resulting in the death of three civilians and two police officers. Bustamante used these killings as evidence in an attempt to crush the Rastafarian movement. The Coral Gardens Massacre occurred as JCF and military members entered working-class and Rastafarian neighborhoods and arbitrarily detained, tortured, and killed many innocent Rastafarians. Though this kind of use of force does not take place anymore, the mistrust between the public and security forces lingers. It should be noted that the government of Jamaica made a formal apology and restitution to the Rastafarians of Coral Gardens in 2017.

In that same year, the Law Reform Act, including the Zones of Special Operations (ZOSO) law, was enacted, allowing the Prime Minister to declare any geographical area a zone of special operations. The creation of these ZOSOs aimed to reduce violent deaths and involved a sustained police and military presence for no more than sixty days, with allowance for extensions (The Law Reform (Zones of Special Operations) (Special Security and Community Development Measures) Act, 2017). When an area is declared a ZOSO, some constitutional rights are suspended. The police and military increase their presence within the area, cordon it off, and establish a curfew, searches, and checkpoints within the zone. The law also specifically addresses the use of body-worn cameras by officers, though the language around it is quite weak, leaving the establishment of any policies and protocols up to the Chief of Defence Staff and the Commissioner of Police (The Law Reform (Zones of Special Operations) (Special Security and Community Development Measures) Act, 2017). ZOSOs are created not only to increase security presence but also to provide increased social and community development and assistance (Causwell, Thorburn, & McIntosh, 2024). By the end of 2025, the country saw seven Zones of Special Operations (Ministry of National Security, 2024). Most of these areas are within Kingston and the Saint Andrew area, which, in practical terms, is part of the city of Kingston. It is unclear if the ZOSOs have been effective in reducing violence or providing assistance in the long term. In fact, on September 23, 2018, the police barged into Ann Marie Robinson’s apartment in an area declared a ZOSO, looking for her son (Chappell, 2019). She was held by her neck, and her son was detained for almost 24 hours without reason.

Body Cameras as a Tool

First, it is important to understand how body cameras work and how law enforcement uses them. Axon, one of the largest suppliers of police-issued body-worn cameras, states that though their cameras do not actively record, they do passively save the previous 18 hours of footage (Axon Corporation, n.d.). It can be safely assumed that other companies’ cameras have similar functions. With that, officers still have to enable active recording. Questions arise about what body cameras do that witnesses and closed-circuit television have not already done in Jamaica.

Body cameras are a tricky subject area to navigate. Although they are meant to protect both civilians and police, this does not seem to be the case. According to INDECOM data, there has been a substantial rise in police killings since the start of 2026 in Jamaica, with body cameras slowly being rolled out this year as well (TeleSUR English, 2026). In the United States, the idea of police wearing body cameras did not surface until after multiple police shootings had occurred in the early 2010s (Seacrest & Snider, 2025). As a result, body cameras have been used there since the early 2010s, and both law enforcement advocates and critics initially applauded their use (Seacrest & Snider, 2025). It should be noted, however, that in the United States, each local police department sets its own policies around body cameras usage as long as they still follow state and federal guidelines. Only eight states mandate body cameras usage.

Globally, data have shown that police wearing body cameras does not affect the rate of the use of force (Ariel, 2016). The National Institute of Justice police has found that wearing body cameras had “no statistically significant effects” on use of force, arrests, or assaults on officers, among other actions (National Institute of Justice, 2022). This trend gives some credence to the Jamaican Minister of National Security’s statement that security forces will not use body cameras during high-risk operations (Jamaica Gleaner, 2026).

One major point of failure with body camera usage occurs if an officer neglects to press record prior to engagement. Another issue arises in the decision process on how and when to release recorded footage to the public or oversight bodies (Reporters Committee For Freedom Of The Press, n.d.). ProPublica and the New York Times reported that of the 79 police killings caught on body cameras in June 2022 in the United States, only 42% of the footage has been made public (Umansky & Farooq, 2023).

Discussion

Jamaica has made a noticeable effort to reduce the murder rate and other criminal activity, but this good work runs the risk of being undermined by the overuse of force by law enforcement (Our Today, 2026). Jamaica is now in a difficult position where the increased police force is reducing murder but is also increasing police shootings. Police patrols have increased, and the police commissioner has stated that “officers should not become paralysed by public criticism in the wake of fatal shootings” (Nationwide Newsnet, 2026). In light of this type of impunity, body cameras may be the tool that can help instill greater trust in policing by the public.

Is there any way for the JCF to salvage something akin to a good reputation with the public? They continue to commit wrongdoing, and evidence points to body cameras not being the expected saving grace. Police officers do get charged for unlawful use of force if that force results in death, but the number of charges do not equal the number of deaths. Currently, the policy on body-worn cameras is not clear to the public, and advocacy groups like Jamaicans For Justice continue to call for this policy to be released to the public.

No body camera footage has been released to the public in any of the cases. The process is fundamentally flawed. The rules expect the bad actors, in this case the JCF, to collect evidence on themselves. If the JCF prioritized public safety and minimized harm and damage done to civilians, the investigations and news reports would have ceased a long time ago. It seems the general direction for security forces is to use body cameras, but the policy for public access to footage is nonexistent. The footage is reviewed by the Independent Commission of Investigations, but there is no requirement for release to the general public.

Conclusion

Without systemic reform, police-worn body cameras will not serve their intended purpose. The JCF at its core is an organization that is steeped in colonialism, and this trend of overuse of force will not solve itself with tools for transparency or accountability but with deliberate policy change and action. The introduction of police-worn body cameras without this kind of change will be a short-term public relations win, like in the United States, and the cycle will continue. There have to be clear laws and policies related to when officers will record, public access to police-recorded footage, and what penalties officers who do not record incidents on their body cameras will face.

Glossary

Afro-Jamaican: Jamaican-born people of primarily sub-Saharan African descent. Primarily from West Africa, from countries like Ghana and Nigeria.

Colonialism: The domination and subjugation of one group of people by another.

Impunity: Freedom from consequences. Failure to bring human rights violators to justice.

Independent Commission of Investigations: A civilian-staffed agency that undertakes investigations concerning actions by members of the Security Forces and other agents of the State that result in death or injury to persons or the abuse of the rights of persons; and for connected matters.

Jamaica Constabulary Force: National police force of Jamaica.

Ministry of National Security: Government body in charge of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, as well as other agencies and departments that have to do with public safety and security.

Murder rate: The frequency of murders relative to the population size of a specific geographic area. It is typically calculated and expressed as the number of victims per 100,000 people per year. Also referred to as the “intentional homicide rate.”

Police Brutality: Unlawful use of force by police that can result in people being deprived of their right to life or subject to torture or other ill-treatment.

Rastafari: A spiritual and cultural movement that emerged in Jamaica in the 1930s. It centers on the belief that Haile Selassie I, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, is the returned messiah. Followers, known as Rastas or Rastafarians, prioritize peace, natural living, and the eventual return of the African diaspora to Africa.

References

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