Deputy Commissioner of the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), Hamish Campbell, has raised serious concerns about the credibility of some police statements following fatal shootings during planned operations.
Campbell says he remains unconvinced by certain official accounts, suggesting that for the police version to be entirely accurate in every case, “every single witness would have to be lying.”
In its latest special report, INDECOM highlighted what it called an alarming trend—a more than 500 percent increase in civilian deaths during planned police operations over the past five years. The data show that in 2019, only 12 percent of fatal encounters with security forces occurred during planned operations, but that figure has surged to 52 percent in 2025.
Deputy Commissioner Campbell is questioning both the tactics and planning methods used in these operations, noting that many of the resulting deaths appear to be preventable.
He also cautioned that the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s (JCF) recent acquisition of additional body-worn cameras will have little impact if they are not strategically deployed in high-risk areas where accountability is most needed.
While emphasizing that INDECOM will not seek to direct police operations, Campbell said the oversight body cannot ignore the troubling frequency of fatal police shootings, which he described as far from normal.
