Jamaica’s security forces were involved in 134 fatal shootings last year, a six per cent increase over the 2021 period.
The Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), which was established in 2010 to undertake investigations concerning actions by members of the security forces and other agents of the states, said that the figures for 2022 were the third consecutive year since 2019.
INDECOM Deputy Commissioner, Hamish Campbell, told reporters that 134 people were shot and killed by the security forces in 2022 and that the security forces shot and injured 95 people last year, a 40 per cent increase over 2021.
Campbell said there was a slow and fluctuating decline in security force shootings in the last decade with the authorities noting that the cumulative increase in security force shootings over the period 2020 to 2022 is 56 per cent, while 86 people were shot and killed by the security forces in 2019.
However, in the last decade, 2013 was the last year in which more than 200 people were killed by the security forces.
CMC//2023
