Police brutality: Jamaican Officers now wear body cameras

In a bid to enforce professionalism in policing, Jamaican police authorities has announced that its officers have started using body cameras, more than two years after it was first announced, says Jamaican Observer.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) announced Monday that police officers in Kingston and St Andrew have started using body cameras in four police divisions.

According to the police Corporate Communications Unit, the JCF said the move is in keeping with the organisation’s thrust to enhance professionalism.

Then Security Minister Peter Bunting announced in 2014, that cops would be wearing body cameras before the end of the year.

Bunting’s disclosure was made amid renewed concerns over allegations of extrajudicial killings and misconduct by members of the force.

Last year January, former Police Commissioner Dr Carl Williams announced that police officers would start wearing the recording devices between the first and second quarter of the year. Then in August, 120 body cameras were presented to the JCF from the United States Government as part of a pilot project.

Several months after the body cameras were presented to the JCF, they are now being worn by cops in Kingston eastern, Kingston Central, St Andrew Central, and Kingston Western divisions.

Last year, Williams had explained that the data would be logged in a fingerprint-protected room, where only officers equipped with the devices and other relevant authorities can enter. He had also said that that data would be stored for a maximum of three months.