Mickel Jackson | Jamaica’s historic crime reduction amid security forces killing surge

As we enter 2026, Jamaica confronts a stark paradox. In 2025, the nation achieved a historic breakthrough: murders fell to a provisional 673, the lowest annual total in over three decades and a roughly 41 per cent decline from 2024.

This dramatic reduction stems from intelligence-led policing, gang dismantlement, firearms seizures, and strengthened community partnerships. As a human rights organisation committed to the rule of law, Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) fully welcomes this progress and supports targeted, strategic efforts to meaningfully reduce violent crime and restore safety in vulnerable communities—provided such efforts remain lawful, proportionate, and accountable.

This crime reduction achievement is marred, however, by an alarming counter-trend: a sharp and unprecedented rise in fatal shootings by security forces. Last year, 311 people died in police-involved incidents—the highest since the 2010 Tivoli Gardens incursion (which claimed over 70 lives, contributing to over 300 total police killings that year) and comparable to the 354 recorded in 1984. This 65 per cent increase from 189 in 2024 reverses the late-2010s decline (annual fatalities often 100–130). The spike is particularly pronounced in planned police operations (PPOs), which accounted for approximately 50 per cent of 2025 fatalities. These patterns echo troubling historical highs from the 1980s and 1990s, when civilian deaths by police often exceeded 140–200 annually amid limited accountability.

TROUBLING START TO 2026

JFJ is extremely concerned regarding the recent spate of killings by members of the security force that have marked the start of 2026. On New Year’s Day alone, seven people were fatally shot in operations across the island. As of January 8, INDECOM has recorded 17 fatal shootings—a 183 per cent increase from the six in the same period of 2025, which itself ended on a record high.

Conflicting accounts from citizens often emerge in these cases, raising questions about transparency, proportionality, and accountability.

Specific incidents illustrate these concerns. In September 2025, 22-year-old Jahmar Farquharson was killed in Cherry Tree Lane, Clarendon; in March 2024, 27-year-old Romario Sterling was fatally shot in Bog Walk, St. Catherine. In both cases, available CCTV footage appears to show the individuals in postures of compliance moments before they were shot. The Windward Road incident, where three men were fatally shot and officers were later charged with murder and perverting the course of justice for allegedly planting a firearm, further highlights the risks when evidence contradicts official accounts.

For avoidance of doubt, some of these killings do involve murderers, some of whom demand that the police protect themselves and others – the law provides for it and common sense demands it. But even if guilty of heinous crimes, if killed unarmed and posing no immediate threat, it is a homicide and not justifiable.

URGENT NEED FOR BODY-WORN CAMERAS

The absence of body-worn cameras in many of these operations compounds the problem. While not a panacea, such technology could help resolve discrepancies and protect both officers and citizens. In his September 29, 2025 interview on Nationwide News Network, Police Commissioner Dr. Kevin Blake indicated that procurement of additional cameras was nearing completion, conservatively estimated to be in the island within 4 weeks. When asked whether BWCs will be deployed in planned operations, Commissioner Blake said “absolutely” while cautioning that there would still not be enough given how planned operations operate. We ask: What is the current status? Are the cameras now in country and operational? Is the additional 1,000 units approved by Cabinet in addition to the previously authorized 3,000? With storage and IT infrastructure already in place, procurement delays can no longer be accepted as justification—not amid this surge and not when conflicting accounts between police and citizens persist.

PATTERNS MATTER

Critics often accuse JFJ of “judging the numbers only” without awaiting INDECOM findings. We do not prejudge individual cases; INDECOM’s thorough investigations are essential and we support them fully. So, yes, we look at the numbers, but also the patterns within them. INDECOM’s October 2025 Special Investigative Report on Planned Police Operations offers critical insight into these trends.

INDECOM notes a steep rise in fatalities—from 127 in 2021 to 311 in 2025—with planned operations now dominating: 51 per cent of fatalities in the first seven months of 2025 (up from 9 per cent in 2021 to 40 per cent in 2024), and 228 of 668 total fatalities (34 per cent) from 2022–July 2025 occurring during PPOs.

Particularly concerning is the escalating role of Area Fugitive Apprehension Teams (AFAT). In 2022, AFATs were involved in only 5 per cent of PPO deployments and 3 per cent of related fatalities; by the first half of 2025, they accounted for 51 per cent of deployments and 47 per cent of fatalities. Three senior AFAT officers were collectively linked to 64 prior fatal shootings prior to their elevation senior command rank, 18 of which INDECOM deemed suspicious, alongside 11 additional suspicious PPOs under their command in 2024–2025. This concentration of incidents among a small group of officers raises serious questions about oversight, training, and potential excessive force and whether their human rights history was considered in their elevated rank given the 2019 Privy Council ruling.

Warrant irregularities raises serious questions: In 29 per cent of 108 fatal PPOs (2022–2024), none were obtained (often as ‘snap raids’ violating policy and constitutional rights); 23 per cent used obsolete legislation with issues like untimed authorizations. Among 108 PPOs, 31 per cent had conflicting civilian accounts; 46 per cent involved unfired recovered weapons despite claims suspects reached for them. Body cams were absent/unactivated in nearly all cases, with CCTV damaged/removed in five instances.

DEFENDING BALANCE AND THE RULE OF LAW

We have repeatedly said—and will continue to emphasize—that police must protect themselves and civilians if necessary. The rule of law makes clear allowance for self-defence. When critics suggest our advocacy implies otherwise, this disingenuity should be summarily dismissed. Our position has always been balanced: officers deserve protection in dangerous encounters, but the use of lethal force must be proportionate, necessary, and accountable.

Further, some ask us not to make pronouncements on these incidents while simultaneously labelling all those killed in confrontations as “marauding criminals” and using other pejorative adjectives. Isn’t that doing the very same thing—making blanket judgments even in the face of some incidents that have serious questions? I also say: had JFJ, the then political directorate, and others delayed their advocacy and waited for investigations to conclude before speaking, we would not have achieved the gains we celebrate today—the establishment of INDECOM in 2010 and an accountability framework to prevent unchecked impunity. The rising fatalities without body cameras now threaten those very gains.

Genuine progress integrates human rights with effective crime reduction. Police Commissioner Blake has acknowledged the concerns and pledged support for body cameras. We trust Dr. Blake is true to his words. We call for urgent deployment and mandatory use in all operations, especially planned ones. INDECOM’s recommendations—requiring senior officers to lead PPOs, standardizing warrants, documenting plans to minimize lethal force, and prohibiting CCTV tampering—must be implemented without delay. Jamaica’s rule of law is one of our greatest asset. Let us protect it.

Mickel Jackson is the executive director of Jamaicans for Justice. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and communications@jamaicansforjustice.org