Cameras boosting crime crackdown
Cameras boosting crime crackdown . Keith McIntosh was standing at his fruit stall erected along the main road in the bustling May Pen town centre in Clarendon about 8:30 p.m. on Valentine’s Day last year when two men approached him on foot. There was a brief conversation between...
The Gleaner
Keith McIntosh was standing at his fruit stall erected along the main road in the bustling May Pen town centre in Clarendon about 8:30 p.m. on Valentine’s Day last year when two men approached him on foot.

There was a brief conversation between McIntosh, 27, also known as ‘Biggs’, and the two men, one of whom was Romeo Fullerton, then 21 years old.

Within seconds, Fullerton pulled a Glock pistol from a bag he was carrying and shot McIntosh twice at point blank range – once to the forehead and once in the chest.

The fruit vendor collapsed on to the sidewalk.

Fullerton’s accomplice used a knife to cut and then remove a single-strap bag with cash which was strung around the wounded McIntosh before they both escaped in a motor car that was parked nearby.

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What they did not know, however, was that cops were watching the brazen killing in real time via closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed as part of the JamaicaEye network, court documents revealed.

JamaicaEye is a national public-private CCTV surveillance system that began operation in March 2018 to monitor public spaces across Jamaica and to help detect and deter criminal activities. It allows registered private companies and citizens to share footage from their cameras that are facing public spaces.

Fullerton was quickly apprehended in his community of Effortville, also in Clarendon.

During a search of his home, he handed cops the clothes he was wearing at the time of the killing – a navy blue T-shirt, a red and brown pair of shorts with the number 3 printed on it, and a pair of dirty white Nike sneakers.

Fullerton also handed cops the multicoloured Gucci single-strap bag from which he pulled the gun he used to shoot McIntosh. The items were identical to those captured on CCTV footage at the crime scene.

Seven days after the slaying, he gave a caution statement to police investigators confessing how he pointed the gun at McIntosh and “buss two shot in a him head” on the order of his accomplice.

He described, too, how the killing played on his conscience for days.

“Him did a threaten me to, Sir, seh if me no dweet, him a go kill me,” he told detectives, who were recording the caution statement, making reference to his crony.

The interview was witnessed by two justices of the peace and included in his trial.

“Since the thing happen, mi can’t sleep. Mi feel tormented. Mi feel bad, Sir. Mi ketch all flu after. Not even eat me can’t eat, Sir,” he said.

Fullerton has been sentenced to life in prison following his murder conviction this year and will have to serve 28 years before he is eligible for parole. He was also convicted on two counts of using a firearm to commit a felony and sentenced to 23 years and two months on each count.

In addition, he was convicted for robbery with aggravation and sentenced to 16 years and three months. The sentences are to be served concurrently.

Fullerton’s case is just one example of how the increasing use of surveillance cameras by the Government and private citizens in public spaces across Jamaica is aiding authorities in the war on crime.

Surveillance video also played a role in the November 18 arrest of two policemen on murder and other criminal charges, eight days after three young men were killed in what was reported to be a “confrontation” with cops in east Kingston, senior law enforcement sources revealed.

The cops – Corporal Mark Roye and Constable Kelby White – were also charged with perverting the course of justice for allegedly “planting” a gun at the scene of the shooting.

Peter Champagnie, KC, the attorney representing Roye, acknowledged that he is aware of allegations that the case involves surveillance footage which has been circulating on social media, but told The Sunday Gleaner he “can’t speak to the authenticity of it”.

Champagnie declined to make any further comment, explaining that prosecutors have not yet turned over any of the evidence in their possession and that the case is now before the court.

CCTV cameras that provide live 24-hour video feeds have been installed in Half-Way Tree, Barbican, and Cross Roads in St Andrew and at Flat Bridge in the Bog Walk gorge in St Catherine.

Cameras have also been installed along Olympic Way, also in St Andrew, and along Darling Street in downtown Kingston, Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang disclosed during an interview with The Sunday Gleaner last month.

“Our technology features are building out. We have completed the surveys, but we haven’t installed them yet, except in a few places,” said Chang, who is also deputy prime minister.

He believes the CCTV buildout, increased mobility for the police, and the enlistment of new cops are among the key factors responsible for the 20 per cent reduction in murders and a downturn in other violent crimes this year.

A total of 995 murders were recorded between January 1 and November 16, compared with 1,244 for the comparative period last year, according to police data.

“Seven out of the nine months gone this year, we’ve had under 100 murders. The last 48 months before that, starting from 2020, there were six months with [fewer] than 100 murders,” Chang disclosed.

The Sunday Gleaner requested statistics from the Ministry of National Security indicating how footage from JamaicaEye has assisted police investigations, but there was no response up to press time last night.

Champagnie said the courts are seeing more cases that feature CCTV evidence, particularly from private companies and citizens who have installed the technology.

“You are seeing a situation where the police force, to their credit, are seeking to ascertain, as a first port of call in their investigations, whether there is CCTV footage anywhere that can be utilised,” he said during an interview last Wednesday.

“So, as they become more and more popular for security reasons, you are seeing greater reliance on it.”

But Champagnie wants lawmakers to go further and enact legislation to make it mandatory for some companies to install CCTVs at entrances and/or exits.

The proposed legislation would cover companies that see significant foot traffic daily, requiring them to acquire and install surveillance cameras that would be fed into the JamaicaEye network, he suggested.

Companies impacted by the legislation could get “certain tax breaks” to help fund installation and maintenance costs, he further proposed.

Failure to maintain the cameras up to the requisite standards as well as destroying or failing to properly store recordings would, among other things, constitute a breach of the law, the attorney suggested.

Sanctions, he said, could range from a ticket and a fine for a first infraction to a suspension or elevated fines for a third violation.

“It would be a game-changer in terms of the rate of conviction and indeed the rate of acquittal in the courts. So it would cut both ways,” he argued.

“Don’t leave it up to the goodheartedness of the business operator. Let it become mandatory because that would eliminate the perception by miscreants who would want to label the business owner as an informer,” Champagnie added.

His proposal is similar to regulations recently introduced in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which makes the installation of surveillance cameras mandatory for public agencies and select private entities. Government ministries and private businesses such as shopping centres, financial institutions and sports clubs are required to install security cameras that meet technical specifications and are monitored by dedicated employees. Medical facilities, women’s clubs, changing rooms, restrooms and salons are excluded.

Justice Minister Delroy Chuck “strongly believes” that CCTV cameras should be installed at all local business places, but does not believe that business owners should be compelled.

CCTV cameras have already been installed at some court buildings and there are plans to add more, he told The Sunday Gleaner.

In addition, Chuck said the Government plans to have surveillance cameras at “most intersections and public facilities”.

But while indicating that cameras and the related equipment are “fairly cheap”, typically costing less than US$2,000 for 32 cameras, the justice minister said the matter should be “voluntary and encouraged”.

“Legislation is unnecessary and would be difficult to enforce,” he said in response to Sunday Gleaner questions related to the legislation proposed by Champagnie.

“I do not believe businesses should be forced to spend what they may not be able to afford. For example, should all community bars, barber and hairdressing parlours, grocery shops, etc., be forced to spend on CCTV equipment? I think not.”

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com
Jamaica
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2024-11-24
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Keith McIntosh was standing at his fruit stall erected along the main road in the bustling May Pen town centre in Clarendon about 8:30 p.m. on Valentine’s Day last year when two men approached him on foot. There was a brief conversation between...
Cameras boosting crime crackdown