Let me first say
that this article is not about taking a position in defense of criminals or the defense of the unlawful police actions. In light of a recent killing of two young men in Garveymeade,
Portmore, St. Catherine I decided to take it up on myself to do a little
investigation into the incidences of police killings in Jamaica.
I however believe
that from the courts of public opinion not all these individuals killed are
innocent but that doesn't justify extra judicial killings. I am also of the
belief that the Jamaican police clearly carry out extrajudicial killings and in
so doing often kill very innocent people. The are also cases where police kill
individuals over issues unrelated to criminal activities and use the cover of
crime to justify the killings. Those sort of killings must however stop.
It was noted in a
speaking engagement to the Rotary Club
of Downtown Kingston at the Hotel Four Seasons, Assistant Commissioner of the
Independent Commission of Investigations, Mr. Hamish Campbell, stated that
since the start of the year, 96 persons have been killed by the Police up until
September 9, 2014.
That seems top represent a meaningful reduction albeit still too high relative to so many other countries.
Now to state some
data:
STATIN - Census 2011
states Jamaica has population: 2,697,983.
Non-civilian
population (Police and military force)
approximately: 13,983
Approximated
civilian population: 2,684,000
Now here are some
interesting statistic according to data compiled from the Independent
Commission of Investigations:
- 1,963 persons were killed by the police between July 1999 and December 2009
- 272 persons were killed by the police in 2007 - This represent the highest in a single year.
- Over 220 persons were killed by the police in 2010 - year of the Tivoli Gardens incursion
- 219 persons were killed by the police in 2012
- 254 persons were killed by the police in 2013
- 96 persons were killed by the police up to September 9 , 2014
This totals to 569
person in just under 3 years.
The question I ask
in response to all these killing; is this justified? We know that the nation
is populated with illegal guns and unfortunately there is an unfortunate criminal subculture but seriously how can 569 people be so eager to engage the police in
a shoot out when it would seem given the data that it will result in certain
death? I guess the next reasonable
question is whether there is a large population of suicidal Jamaican who have
discover that its easier to die by engaging the police.
Now I hope to
further analyze this in the future but making some educated assumptions it is
fair to say that approximately 80% of these individuals are males within the
age group of 20-35. That would mean that approximately 455 Jamaican men between
the ages 20 and 35 years old would have been killed by police officers within
the last 3 years.
This cohort accounts
for approximately 309,000 Jamaicans. This is significant because when the
analysis is done it should show that close to 1 in every 1,309 Jamaican males
between 20 and 35 years old will be killed by the police each year. Given this
I think I may need to consider seeking political asylum overseas in fear of
being killed by the police. The risk would also be greater depending on the
community in which they came from. Had I been born in an inner-city community I could have been easily another statistic. This may seem like an insignificant number
but I cannot readily identify a country that has a track record that is anything like this or a police force
that is so aggressive in dealing with its male civilian population. It would be
interesting to find out if a study on any such thing has ever been done.
In any case it would
seem given this very simple analysis that there is an unspoken war raging
between young Jamaican males and the police and it would be reasonable if the
newly appointed commissioner of police Dr. Carl Williams sought to address this
issues as a matter of urgency.
The unfortunate
truth though is that the security system and by extension the socioeconomic
system fails Jamaicans and given the
available data it seems to be a trend that will continue.
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The murder rate also
continues to trend upwards and one can conclude Its is quiet evident to me that
the security forces are at war.
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