‘The police did not know a camera was there’

The family of 20-year-old Shamar Riley joined Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) in a protest against police violence in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, on Tuesday, armed with secretly recorded video footage they claim shows the moments before his fatal shooting by the police last Saturday.

Riley is one of 108 men reportedly killed this year during alleged confrontations with police.

His family says the one-minute video, now submitted to the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), contradicts the police’s account of a shoot-out in Cockburn Gardens around 12:10 a.m.

“This is the footage that they said was a shoot-out and they (police) did not know camera was there. You going to see the officers come in after they already shot him in the lane and he was calling his father,” a relative said.

“Have you ever seen a police walk down a gunman that is firing shots and he is trying to apprehend?” another relative asked.

According to the family, another person inside the house was recording when officers entered. That individual’s phone was allegedly confiscated and has not been returned.

“The officers have been so cruel. Every day since the incident, they come to the area and just a pressure, pressure, pressure, and there is no justice. Who is telling the lie? The camera or you (the police)?” the relative asked.

Scores of protestors, dressed in black, turned out on Tuesday, calling for greater police accountability and the mandatory use of body-worn cameras during operations.

JFJ Executive Director Mickel Jackson described the protest as an opportunity for constructive dialogue amid national discussions on human rights and police conduct.

“It’s a glorious opportunity for constructive dialogue,” she said.

“... The minister of national security is making his Sectoral [Debate] presentation today. I think it’s really an opportunity for us to hear from Dr Horace Chang in relation to the status of increased deployment of body-worn cameras, the status of the procurement, and certainly, I hope the public will join the call for clear timelines for when the data storage infrastructure will be put in place,” Jackson said.

She noted that although a pilot project began in 2012, progress remained limited.

URGED TO ‘STAND’ FOR VICTIMS’ RIGHTS

Jackson also referenced Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness wearing blue – the colour associated with police support in a counterprotest on Tuesday – urging him to stand instead for accountability and victims’ rights.

“I hope that the blue is in solidarity with the people who are here today, the victims who are here today saying that my son was killed at the hands of the police state, and I hope that the prime minister in Parliament today would take this opportunity to say to the public, ‘I am not choosing sides, but I am on the side of accountability. I am on the side of human rights, and I am on the side of body-worn cameras and police accountability’,” Jackson said.

Attorney-at-law Bert Samuels, present in support of JFJ and its mandate, criticised the rising number of police killings despite falling crime rates.

“My view is that persons should be taken before the court. They should not be executed by the police force. Secondly, that body cameras should be mandatory. Why do you need to put a mask on and refuse a camera if what you are doing is lawful? The reason why you don’t want to wear a body camera and you are putting on your mask with no numbers is because you are acting like a criminal,” Samuels charged.

He argued that police officers’ reluctance to wear cameras suggests that they anticipate misconduct, adding: “If they are under attack, the cameras will protect them. Any man who pulls a gun at a police officer, his body camera will explain why he had to kill him.”

The protest attracted current and former JFJ members, rights groups, and members of the public. Tensions occasionally flared, with police intervening to separate opposing groups.

Despite confrontations, the event was largely peaceful.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com