Russell wants Gov’t to fully fund JamaicaEye expansion 

WESTERN BUREAU:

Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Jason Russell is urging the Government to fully finance and expand the JamaicaEye surveillance programme, arguing that the burden of strengthening the island’s CCTV network should no longer rest heavily on private citizens and businesses.

“The Jamaican Government probably needs to spend the money to actually do JamaicaEye,” Russell said while addressing Wednesday night’s annual general meeting of the MBCCI, where he was elected to a second term as president.

Questioning whether the programme’s public-private partnership model is sustainable in Jamaica, Russell argued that while the concept of businesses and homeowners sharing camera feeds with the authorities may work in other countries, Jamaica requires a more aggressive state-led surveillance strategy to effectively tackle crime.

“Based on the success of it, it's telling us that Jamaica needs to find the resources and do it themselves. Private citizens aren’t lending their cameras to the Government of Jamaica, so it was tried. It was probably a good idea. It probably works in other countries, but I think where we are now, it can probably complement a more robust government system of cameras in key crime-producing areas,” he said.

Launched in 2018 by the Ministry of National Security, JamaicaEye was designed as a national CCTV surveillance network to improve public safety, support criminal investigations and strengthen emergency response efforts.

The programme combines government-owned cameras with voluntary integration of private surveillance systems belonging to businesses and homeowners whose cameras overlook public spaces.

The Government has since expanded the network and is now building out a sophisticated C5 security infrastructure – Command, Control, Computers, Communications and Cyber – intended to serve as the nerve centre of Jamaica’s modern policing strategy.

According to the Ministry of National Security and Peace, the C5 facilities will integrate surveillance systems, emergency dispatch, cyber operations and real-time intelligence gathering into a single command structure.

The Government previously disclosed that the Police Emergency and Control Centre in Kingston would be transformed into a modern C5 facility at an estimated cost of roughly $2 billion.

National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang has described the new C5 centre as a “gamechanger” that will provide officers with “real-time information and intelligence” to improve response times and operational effectiveness.

Several JamaicaEye monitoring centres have already been commissioned across the island, including facilities in Olympic Gardens and Denham Town in Kingston.

The Denham Town JamaicaEye Monitoring Centre, opened last year, includes 285 high-definition CCTV cameras covering sections of downtown Kingston, Waltham Park Road and surrounding communities at a cost of approximately $300 million.

Government officials say all JamaicaEye monitoring centres will eventually feed directly into the national C5 command hub.

Newer cameras being deployed under the programme reportedly feature artificial intelligence-assisted tracking, automatic motion response and licence-plate recognition technology.

Despite the expansion, the programme has faced criticism over maintenance problems and non-functioning cameras in several areas.

Russell argued that while JamaicaEye remains an important crime-fighting tool, sustained Government investment will be critical to making the system effective nationwide.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com