KINGSTON – Twenty-one Jamaicans have been shot and killed by members of the security forces in the first 19 days of this year, the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) has said.

For the corresponding period last year, 28 people were killed by the security forces.

Last year, INDECOM reported 311 police fatal shootings, representing a 65 per cent increase over the previous year.

Among the killings reported by INDECOM for this year, a triple fatal shooting in Manchester and a single fatal shooting in Clarendon. These two incidents resulted in the death of four men.

The triple fatal shooting is the third such multiple fatality incident investigated by the Commission since the start of 2026.

On January 1, INDECOM commenced investigations into two separate triple fatal shooting incidents in St. James and Westmoreland and two single fatal shooting incidents in Kingston.

INDECOM,  which is a civilian staffed state agency tasked to undertake investigations concerning actions by members of the security forces and other agents of the State that result in death or injury, said these four incidents resulted in the death of eight persons, three of which were males under the age of 18 years old.

Meanwhile,  INDECOM reported that on January 13, a member of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), Correctional Officer Romel Wilkie, was placed before the Kingston and St. Andrew Parish Court, in relation to an assault of a male inmate. The incident occurred on February 26, 2025 at the Horizon Adult Remand Centre.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) had ruled Wilkie should be charged with the offence of causing grievous bodily harm after the complainant said he was hit in the face, in the vicinity of his ear, by the officer during a cell search for contraband. Medical evidence indicated that the complainant’s left eardrum was ruptured.

The case against Wilkie has been set to begin on April 14, 2026.

INDECOM said  that since January 2024, a total of 56 law enforcement officers have been charged in relation to incidents it has investigated and of that total, six members of the DCS have been charged. (CMC)