KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC—Justice Minister Delroy Chuck is advocating for closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems in public spaces. He says he has proposed installing cameras in “every corner” of courthouses across the island.
The justice minister said the protective measure would “track anyone entering” the precincts. It would also act as another layer of security for judges, who could check the monitors before leaving their chambers.
“I can assure you that I am now proposing that we should have cameras at every corner of the courthouses so that anyone who comes into the court can be followed throughout, and before a judge comes into the court, he can know if there is any problem. The beauty of these cameras is that I can look at mine and see what is happening before I go out. It’s a beautiful system,” Chuck stated.
His proposal for courthouse spaces follows an October incident in which convicted criminal Anthony Williams, otherwise called Pops, vaulted from a prisoner’s dock at the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston and into the space occupied by the judge before dashing onto the private walkway used by judges and their security detail. Williams then jumped from the corridor, the second floor of the building, onto Tower Street before escaping.
The 22-year-old, who is already serving time, made the dramatic escape just before being sentenced for illegal possession of a firearm and assault at common law.
Williams, for whom a search was launched, was still sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment in absentia.
Chuck, who addressed a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of St Andrew North, further noted that footage from CCTV systems has been useful in investigations.
“We have major challenges in our country: the criminals, the miscreants, the rogues are giving us a hard time, and it is for the criminal justice system to fight back. The chief justice, all the judges, and the National Security Council are doing everything in our power to send a signal to criminals that their space will be limited. You won’t have much room to move about, but my God, the criminals are damn creative. When they want to get their man, they go out of their way to get their man…that is why we hope that CCTV cameras will be on every corner before long,” the justice minister said.
In March last year, Chief Justice Bryan Sykes advocated a rethink and redesign of the island’s court buildings, pointing to the fact that accused individuals “rub shoulders” with all parties, including witnesses, as one reason for “change.”
“We shouldn’t have a situation where defendants, witnesses, and lawyers are all using the same space, as in the Supreme Court. When persons are being brought from the cells up into the courtrooms [they are] rubbing shoulders with the lawyers, witnesses, jurors, so we have to change all that. That is why we need modern court buildings to deal with all those issues,” Sykes said.
The chief justice made the point while elaborating on how technology will be used in court processes to improve service delivery.
“From my perspective, two of the primary roles of the Ministry of Justice is to provide adequate infrastructure for the court staff and those who use the court for court purposes,” the chief justice said.
That observation by Justice Sykes has come to the fore over the years. Following the release of one of the accused in the murder of financial analyst Jamie Lue in Christmas 2005, a relative of Lue, in a social media post, had said: “There is no proper justice in Jamaica for the victim and their families, and not to mention the poor safety precautions. How can the alleged murderer and witness be allowed to enter the courthouse together and sit in the same waiting area?”
In the meantime, the justice minister, in also imploring householders and business owners to invest in CCTV cameras, said surveillance footage recorded at his law offices has helped accost individuals who committed crimes in the vicinity.
“It’s good security because we have to put the criminals on the back foot. If decent, law-abiding citizens like us don’t put the criminals on the back foot, it won’t be long before they start to overwhelm us. We must be smarter than the criminals. Yes, when we catch them, we want them to plea bargain because the evidence will be so strong against them, but the best way is to get the material evidence to put them away,” he said.
According to Chuck, Jamaica should follow in the footsteps of countries like Singapore and Rwanda, where surveillance cameras have become top crime-fighting tools.
“In Singapore, cameras do everything. If you steal and break the red lights, they get you right away, and the same is true in Rwanda. We have to get to that stage where CCTV cameras will ticket you if you speed or break the traffic lights without human intervention,” he said.
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