Bernard urges mandatory body-worn cameras for Jamaica's police force

Opposition Senator Allan Bernard is urging the government to legislate mandatory body-worn cameras for officers of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), framing the proposal as part of a wider digital accountability framework.

Bernard issued the call on Friday during Senate debate on the amended Cybercrimes Bill of 2026, which lawmakers in the upper house went on to pass. He pointed to the steep climb in fatal police shootings — 115 recorded so far in 2026, against 87 over the same stretch of 2025 — as evidence that stronger oversight of frontline officers is overdue.

The senator also took aim at National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang, who recently brushed aside even a narrower proposal to outfit police with cameras during specialised operations, branding the suggestion a “crazy idea”.

While endorsing the Cybercrimes Bill, Bernard said the Opposition's position is that national security cannot be separated from constitutional rights.

“Public safety must be rights-based safety and digital accountability must apply not only to the governed but also to those who are doing the governing; the police, their searches, their seizures, their arrests and too oftentimes in Jamaica, the extrajudicial killings,” he said.