Jamaica agency that probes allegations against police says 53 officers face murder charges
KINGSTON, Jamaica _ A Jamaican agency that probes abuse allegations against the island’s security forces says 53 police officers are charged with murder. The Independent Commission of Investigations disclosed the number of officers facing murder charges at a Wednesday press conference. Jamaican officers accused of unlawfully taking a life make up the large majority of the 84 officers before the courts. The commission says it recorded 129 fatalities by security forces last year on the island of 2.7 million. That’s a 50 per cent drop in fatalities from 2013, when 258 people were slain, and the fewest deaths at the hands of law enforcement in years. There seems to be a mix of reasons for the reduction, but perhaps the biggest is a new-found fear among officers of prosecution by the increasingly robust commission.
Alwin Marshall-Squire is the Editor-in-Chief of S-Q Publications Inc., overseeing editorial strategy for GTA Weekly, GTA Today, and Vision Newspaper. He leads the publications’ mission to deliver bold, original journalism focused on the people and communities of the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, and the global Caribbean diaspora.
Also writes for GTA Weekly and GTA Today.
