INDECOM: Increasing Assault Claims in 2020

The latest Independent Commission of Investigations, (INDECOM) study uncovers a 40% increase over the last year for assault claims against members of the security forces mainly the police. The findings were highlighted during INDECOM’s second quarterly press briefing today.

Deputy Commissioner of INDECOM, Hamish Campbell says of the more than 15,000 assault complaints filed against the security forces between 2016 and 2020, the bulk were filed against the police. Of note, he says the assault research has captured assault complaints from a wider cross-section of the society and not just those in breach of the law.

Campbell says one-fifth of the assaults occurred in people’s homes, wherein several instances the police entered without warrants. He also explains the bulk of the victims of assault fall in the 25 to 29 age group and are often males.

The Independent Commission also found that the bulk of the allegations featured in Kingston and St. Andrew and implicated in many instances police officers who allegedly had prior assault allegations well before 2020.

Kingston and St. Andrew featured as the parish with the largest number of assault claims. Mr. Campbell says many of the officers at the heart of the allegations were on duty and in some instances had multiple reports filed against them.

More in this CVM Live story from Neika Lewis: