“The purpose of
this project is to improve the collection of evidence of criminal activity in
an effort to prosecute and reduce such activity, improve the transparency of
JCF activities when interacting with the public, to encourage JCF officers to
act in accordance with the force's professional standards to include the
appropriate use of force, and to create a record to protect JCF officers from
unfair allegations of violations of JCF professional standards”
Minister of National Security Peter Bunting commenting
on the move to have JCF Police wear Body Cameras as announced at the Post
Cabinet Press Briefing on Thursday January 22nd 2014
Folks, welcome
to 1984, George Orwell Style as finally my prediction as written in my Geezam blog article entitled “Jamaica’s
National Security Ministry plans CCTV Network and Automated Traffic Ticketing
System” and my blog article
entitled “GOJ
to upgrade NWA's CCTV Traffic Monitoring Network to give Police more eyes in
Private Places - The Da Vinci Code for Automated Traffic Ticketing System and
1984” has come to pass.
Well, sorta…..
as I’ve been biding my time and watching this story, waiting for more details
of Minister of National Security Peter Bunting plan to emerged. So here goes
nothing!
This as Minister
of National Security Peter Bunting has come off his knees seeking divine
intervention and has man-up to the task by declaring that select JCF (Jamaica
Constabulary Force) aka the Jamaican
Police are to get Body Cameras by July 2014 as reported in “Body Cameras for Policemen”,
published January 24, 2014 By Alphea Saunders, The
Jamaica Information Service.
The move is
really a response to the complaints about extra-judicial killings, making it
much different from CCTV Cameras, which are mainly aimed at deterring Crime to
quote Minister of National Security Peter Bunting: “However, the Administration
views the issue of extra-judicial killings with the gravest concern and is
committed to the police being accountable for their actions, and that every use
of lethal force must be independently investigated, explained and justified”.
But the same
logic applies, only this time the Cameras are on the Policeman Body as well as
on their Patrol Vehicles. Clearly to, this will help to improve the image of
the Police as note in his further statement on the matter, quote: “The Government of Jamaica is committed to reducing the
level of crime and violence that has taken a terrible toll on this nation. As
part of this commitment we will be taking all necessary steps to ensure that
the JCF becomes one of the most trusted and respected institutions in Jamaica”.
The Jamaica Gleaner and The Jamaica Observer did a fabulous
job of carrying the announcement as noted in “Bunting Announces
That Police Are To Start Wearing Body Cameras”, Published Thursday January
23, 2014 12:13 pm, The Jamaica Gleaner
and “Police
to wear body cameras”, published Thursday, January 23, 2014 6:41 PM, The Jamaica Observer. When I read it I
tweeted on @lindsworthdeer as shown below exactly how I felt:
Bunting Announces That Police Are To Start Wearing #Body #Cameras http://t.co/LPbg7Us2ZW What took the Ministry so long to do this?
— Lindsworth Deer (@LindsworthDeer) January 23, 2014
This announcement
was made at the Post Cabinet Press Briefing on Thursday January 23rd
2014 along with the fact that he indeed had the Crime Monster under control as stated in “Crime Not Out Of
Control – Minister Bunting”, published January 24, 2014 By Alphea Saunders,
The Jamaica Information Service.
Good to note too
that the Minister of Security is also distancing himself from the ‘Education and Crime: Evidence from Prison
inmates in Jamaica’ study that’s suggesting that Lower tier non-traditional
Schools are a breeding ground for Criminals, as this isn’t necessarily true and
is very divisive and stigmatizing and doesn’t help the Schools at all.
This as he spoke
at the 21st staging of the Ministry of National Security’s Annual
Devotion, held on Wednesday January 22nd 2014 at the Emmanuel
Apostolic Church as stated in the article “Schools Not to
be Blamed, says Minister Bunting”, published January 23, 2014 By Shelly-Ann
Irving, The
Jamaica Information Service.
Worse, it would
now appear that the Traditional Media was spinning tales to sell more
newspapers and more TV Ads proclaiming that Crime was spiralling out of
control!
Jamaican Police endorse Body Cameras – INDECOM ‘s eyes
and ears on the Force
But best of all
in my book is the fact that the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) aka the Jamaican Police with four (4) SSP (Senior
Superintendent of Police) voicing support for the move as reported in “Cops
support body cameras”, published Friday, January 24, 2014, The Jamaica Observer.
So too does the
Jamaica Police Federation, which endorses the move as stated in this *.pdf copy
of their Press
Release in response to Body Camera Announcement as stated in “Police Federation
endorses body camera for Police”, published 2014-01-27, Go-Jamaica.
This is clearly
a move to blunt criticism about so-called extra-judicial killing perpetrated at
the hands of the Jamaican Police, as he also suggested that he’s also ensure
compliance with INDECOM as it relates to investigations from now on, quote: “I
have issued directives to the commissioner of police to take immediate steps to
address compliance with the Jamaica Constabulary [Force] Use of Force Policy
and the INDECOM Act as well as to institute new measures to improve accountability”.
However the head
of the NGO (Non Governmental Organization) FAST (Families Against State
Terrorism) Yvonne McCalla Sobers isn’t that this will make a difference,
pointing out that the Minister of Security has good intentions but spaces on
details as noted in “Police Body
Cameras Not Enough, Says McCalla Sobers”, Published Friday January 24, 2014
9:07 am, The Jamaica Gleaner.
Video, Audio and Still Picture Evidence – Tamper Proof
System to be Admissible in Court
But it will
actually. So why am I so hopeful?
This as the Body
Cameras may herald the coming of a Separate Telecom Network just for the
Jamaican Police to carry all that Video Traffic as I'd explained in my blog article
entitled “GOJ
to upgrade NWA's CCTV Traffic Monitoring Network to give Police more eyes in
Private Places - The Da Vinci Code for Automated Traffic Ticketing System and
1984”.
This is based on
the words of Minister Peter Bunting, quote: “There are various versions…some
that record, some which transmit from the device back to a patrol vehicle, and
some which transmit to a central control…so, there are a number of options” .
Drawing on the
parallel with CCTV Cameras, this suggests that the CCTV Camera Network that the
Minister Peter Bunting was all hopped up about April 2013 as written in my Geezam blog article entitled “Jamaica’s
National Security Ministry plans CCTV Network and Automated Traffic Ticketing
System” is going to be built not only for CCTV Cameras but to act as the
Wireless Network to carry the Data back to the JCF NOC (Network Operation
Center) which may very well be the CCN (Constabulary Communication Network).
Makes sense!
That much
traffic from that many Police carrying Compressed HD (High Definition) Video
and Audio will clog our current 3G and HSDPA+ Networks for Both of our Telecom
Providers, albeit Telecom Provider LIME and Digicel probably wouldn’t mind, so long as the GOJ (Government of
Jamaica) pays on time!
But as such as
scheme would be too expensive for the GOJ to undertake, the idea of
piggy-backing the Traffic on the E-Learning Fiber Optic Network that’s being
built to interconnect the 300 High Schools as well as the NWA (National Works
Agency) Fiber Optic Network used to control their Traffic Lights and Traffic
Cameras imply a Separate Telecom Network to be built just for the Jamaican
Police.
Plus aside from
the Technical Requirements which would necessitate a separate Network, there
are Legislative changes that would have to be put in place to make Video, Audio
and Still picture evidence admissible in a Court of law as evidence in lieu of
witness Testimony as stated in my blog
article entitled “Handheld
Traffic Ticketing Units for Jamaican Police a success but no Automated Traffic
Ticketing System - GOJ fears the All Seeing Eyes of CCTV”.
Hopefully along
with those Legislative changes will be UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) to save the
Jamaican Police on the cost of maintaining their Fleet of Vehicles and even
lives by providing an additional pair of eyes in the sky as argued in my blog
article entitled “GOJ
can develope UAV's as a means of giving the Police eyes in the sky -
Inspiration for Aviators in Jamaica via G.I. Joe Retaliation”.
Stay tuned for
more details on his Body Camera Initiative and how exactly it will work, as it
may be close to what I’ve penned here!
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