Jamaica’s Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake says he is in full support of members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) wearing of body cameras, and added that, contrary to belief, the members of the force welcome its use.
“My officers welcome it (wearing of body-worn cameras) with open arms because they understand it,” said Blake. “We have smart officers; a number of our officers are people who are highly educated, well trained, highly skilled, and so, this argument about the accountability that persons may be shying away from, let me dispel that and assure the members of public that that is not the case.”
According to him, the JCF has been quite busy over the last three years, working diligently to build out a technologically driven communication infrastructure to support new technology, such as the use of body-worn cameras.
“We have been building out that infrastructure, strengthening our infrastructure, our data center, ensuring that our network communications are adequate, so that we can properly manage the products from these body worn cameras,” explained Blake. “Now that we have completed that, the next part of the project is to actually procure body- worn cameras and pin them on to our members.”
In noting that the body cameras would be useless without the infrastructure to support their use, the police commissioner said the public needs to understand that in getting the program up and running in the proper way, the requisite infrastructure must be put in place.
Blake, who became police commissioner on March 19, is viewed as a part of the new face of the JCF, which is increasingly using technology as a crime-fighting tool. He has a first degree in computer science and mathematics, a master’s degree in computer-based management information system, and a PhD in sustainable development from The University of the West Indies.
