Editorial | Move to bodycam reset

Anyone who had a contrary interpretation of Horace Chang’s original remark ought to accept his explanation that he was either misquoted, or taken out of context, in reports saying that the current police uniform wasn’t designed to accommodate body-worn cameras (BWCs).

Dr Chang’s clarification that his reference was the constabulary’s previous uniform - from they began to transition in 2023 - suggests, at least, the security minister's acknowledgement that that would be a ridiculous argument with which to sustain the seeming disinclination of the police to wear BWCs, even in situations where they would have the greatest value: on planned operations that account for half of fatal shootings by cops.   These operations account for a small fraction of the police’s interaction with citizens.

Hopefully, Dr Chang will revisit some of his other reported statements, including suggestions that people who call for the accelerated roll-out and use of BWCs, and believe that the devices are a panacea to crime fighting, may be anti-police or that the presence of cameras would automatically build trust in the police.

Perhaps these perceptions were based on misquotes and-or uncontextual reports. In that case, the minister could fix the record, allowing for a reset - a new engagement between Dr Chang and the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) on one hand, and civil society organisations and the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) on the other. INDECOM is the agency that investigates police shootings, as well as complaints of abuse against the security forces.

The roll-out of body-cams by the constabulary - which has been on Jamaica’s agenda for more than a dozen years - has long been a contentious matter between the police and INDECOM and other promoters of accountability. 

The authorities would prefer the focus to be on Jamaica’s declining murder rate in recent years: by 22 per cent in 2024 and 43 per cent last year, making the 673 homicides in 2025 the first time in over three decades that the island had recorded fewer than 700 murders.

But INDECOM and human rights campaigners have been concerned by another trend - a sharp rise in fatal shootings by the security forces, which primarily means the police.  There were 310 of these in 2025, a 64 per cent increase on the previous year when there were 26 per cent more police killings, compared to 2023.  Up to May 1, there were 116 police killings in 2026, roughly tracking the amount for the first four months of 2026. The upward spiral in security force homicides in the post-pandemic period followed several years of decline after INDECOM’s launch in 2010.

INDECOM has complained that, despite the availability of  BWCs in the JCF (though not sufficient for all members in operational environments), no fatal shooting incident has ever been captured on a BWC. Further, half of the police killings result from planned operations when cops should have the benefit of operational and tactical pre-planning. 

Apparently, officers who go on these operations are not prioritised for BWCs.  The cameras the JCF has - which should be nearly 2,000 -  are deployed to police who patrol public spaces.

 Dr Chang has, in the past, suggested that BWCs would be inherently impractical and unstable in operational settings, with police confronting criminals with M16 rifles “firing 60 rounds per second” having to duck and dive.

Then, last week, he was reported as saying at a function in Montego Bay: “The current uniform was not designed with body cameras in mind. You cannot just add technology without thinking of the entire system.”  He also argued that continued broader reform of the constabulary, including improved investigative training, along with technology, will rebuild trust in the police.

Dr Chang subsequently said that those quoted remarks were misinterpreted. They applied to the JCF’s old uniform. The new uniform, he said, was “a deliberate and strategic upgrade, designed to meet the operational demands of modern law enforcement”.

On this occasion, this newspaper is happy to accept this as journalists’ error, rather than a fair and accurate report of the minister's statement and intent.

The design of the police uniform as a deterrent to the deployment of BWCs was used before.  In August 2018, the former police chief, Antony Anderson, in stressing his commitment to the roll-out of BWCs, said: “We are also looking at uniform modifications to see how we can start getting technology into the police uniform ... . Our uniform predates cellular phones; they predate all of the things that you see these days, and everybody is trying to hang things on themselves.”

The JCF’s uniform has been modified. It can fit BWCs. It is assumed that the technological backbone for the storage of images by bodycams is in place. The government says it is buying more cameras.

Two other things are urgently required.  Firstly, some of the available BWCs must be assigned to teams that go on pre-planned operations. And the cameras must be activated during these operations.

Further, the regulations governing the storage and retrieval of body camera images, and the protocols for how police wearing BWCs write up incident reports, should be part of a full and transparent dialogue with key stakeholders.