Policing in 2025 will be remembered as a year of sharp contrasts as Jamaica recorded its lowest murder rate in decades while simultaneously seeing an unprecedented number of civilians killed by members of the security forces. Despite a 42 per cent drop in homicides, figures from the Independent Commission of Investigations show that 311 people were fatally shot by the police last year — the highest annual total since regular reporting began in 2017.

2025: The policing year written in blood

Jamaica Gleaner/4 Jan 2026/Andre Williams Staff Reporter 

THE YEAR 2025 will be remembered as a paradoxical year for Jamaica as despite recording a historic low in overall murders, the past 12 months have been overshadowed by a grim countertrend: an unprecedented number of citizens killed by the security forces.

Between 2017 and 2025, one thousand four hundred and twentytwo people were fatally shot by members of the security forces based on figures compiled from the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) and the police.

Of that total, 311 deaths occurred last year alone, accounting for approximately 22 per cent of all fatalities recorded during the eightyear period.

This concentration of deaths at the hands of members of the security forces in a single year is unprecedented.

No other year since INDECOM began publishing regular statistics in 2017 has come close to producing such a large share of the overall toll, making 2025 a defining and troubling period in Jamaica’s policing landscape.

The numbers reflect more than an isolated spike. They cap a sustained period of elevated fatal encounters between civilians and the police.

On record, for 13 consecutive months starting November 2024, Jamaica recorded 20 or more fatal police shootings – a run that was sustained all of 2025, signalling a pattern rather than a momentary surge.

That trajectory was evident from the start of this year.

January 2025 ended with 28 people fatally shot by the police, a figure that was mirrored in February, placing the country on course for a recordbreaking year before the first quarter ended.

By the end of December, the cumulative total had surged to 311, eclipsing all previous annual figures in the INDECOM era.

The scale of the increase becomes even more pronounced when viewed against recent history.

Fatal police shootings in Jamaica fell to a low of 86 in 2019 but began rising steadily thereafter, reaching 155 in 2023 and climbing further to 189 in 2024.

SHARPEST ESCALATION RECORDED

The leap from 189 to 311 in a single year represents a year-on-year increase of more than 60 per cent, the sharpest escalation recorded over the eight-year period.

Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake has sought to place the figures in context, emphasising that fatal shootings represent a small fraction of overall police-citizen encounters.

Blake acknowledged that last year, there had been considerable public discussion surrounding police fatal shootings.

“While these incidents remain the subject of ongoing investigations, it is important to place the issue in its proper context. When confronted by law enforcement, escalation is a

choice, and it is a dangerous one. The police are trained, equipped, and mandated to protect life, including their own. Raising a firearm against the police will not end well,” the commissioner said.

He has repeatedly pointed out that far more people are arrested than are killed, noting that thousands of suspects are taken into custody each year without injury or loss of life.

The commissioner was speaking during a comprehensive end-of-year review to the nation on December 25.

To give context to the discussion, Blake said the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has increased operations by more than 70 per cent.

“This means that there are more than 100,000 interactions between police and citizens over the year. While we are not happy with the increased number of police fatal shootings, the number represents less than 0.3 per cent of all policecitizen interactions,” Blake said.

According to the commissioner, many of the fatal incidents involve individuals who confront or challenge the police, often while armed, forcing officers to make split-second decisions in volatile situations. He noted that the JCF’s focused deterrence strategy is aimed at throwing a significant amount of resources at the highest-risk targets.

“These are persons who have made a life of killing people. In spite of this, we have and will continue to appeal to these individuals not to meet us with violence as they can rest assured that our pursuit in bringing them to justice will not relent. I strongly believe that if all Jamaicans can join us in this appeal and these persons take heed, we can have far fewer fatal shootings in 2026,” he argued.

“These figures are critical. They demonstrate that in the majority of encounters with armed assailants, police officers successfully de-escalate situations, secure firearms, and preserve lives. Each of those arrests represents restraint, professionalism, and adherence to the rule of law under extremely dangerous circumstances,” Blake emphasised.

DRAMATIC FALL IN MURDERS

Jamaica was also set to close out the year with a dramatic fall in murders, recording a 42 per cent fall in murders at the end of 52 weeks with 666 killings as at December 27, the lowest number recorded since 1994.

That year some 690 people were killed.

The last time murders had dipped below 1,000 in Jamaica was in 2003.

The latest murder figure caps a steady, multi-year decline in homicides that has now accelerated into historic territory.

After years of high murder rates, the country first saw an eight per cent reduction heading into 2024, followed by a sharper 19 per cent fall going into 2025. That momentum has now culminated in a dramatic 42 per cent plunge as the country heads into 2026, decisively resetting Jamaica’s crime narrative.

Despite this decline and Commissioner Blake’s assurances, the unprecedented scale of the 2025 figures of killings by members of the security forces has fuelled public concern and renewed calls for deeper scrutiny of police operations.

Critics such as Jamaicans for Justice and INDECOM argue that even if arrests vastly outnumber fatalities, the concentration of deaths in a single year raises fundamental questions about the thresholds for the use of lethal force and whether existing safeguards are adequate.

The watchdog, INDECOM, has consistently weighed in, reiterating long-standing concerns about police useof-force practices and the inconsistent deployment of body-worn cameras.

To date, no operation that led to a civilian fatality involved the use of body worn cameras.

The oversight body has stressed that body cameras are a critical accountability tool, capable of providing independent evidence of police encounters, protecting law-abiding officers and resolving conflicting accounts in fatal incidents.

Throughout 2025, INDECOM indicated that the absence of bodyworn camera footage in some fatal shootings complicated investigations and prolonged public uncertainty.

One such case involved a 23-member police team that went on an operation in Cherry Tree Lane in Four Paths, Clarendon, on September 15, which resulted in the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Jamar Farquharson.

Farquason was shot and killed inside his home.

The incident triggered public outrage and raised questions about operational planning and accountability.

Blake, after some time, said the situation with Farquharson was “most regrettable”. While offering condolences to the family of the deceased, he said the facts of what took place on that day are to be conclusively determined by an independent investigation.

INDECOM said the high volume of the investigations caused by the increase of police fatalities has slowed their probe into this incident.

INDECOM has repeatedly underscored that full compliance with body-camera policies is essential, particularly in a year marked by historically high numbers of fatal encounters.

One of the most recent cases resulting arrest and charge of police officers with murder followed a reported fatal shooting took place on November 17, 2024.

Then, two JCF officers, Corporal Mark Roye and Constable Kelby White, were charged in relation to a triple fatal shooting incident investigated by INDECOM after a ruling by the Office of the Director of the Public Prosecutions in relation to the death of the three young men. Seventeen-year-old Oshane Stubbs, 19-year-old Orando Campbell, and 20-year-old Kayshawn Smith were fatally shot on November 10, 2024, along Windward Road.

The policemen remain incarcerated as the matter progresses.

Insiders are saying that this may be a case to watch in 2026.

In the first two days of 2026, INDECOM had already recorded eight killings by the security forces.

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