A man points to an area overhead where residents of Sligoville, St Catherine, say they’ve seen drones hovering in the community. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)
March 31, 2025
Keeping abreast of modern technologies in the crime fight
We recall August 2022 when Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Member of Parliament for ruggedly mountainous St Elizabeth North Western Mr J C Hutchinson presented three drones to the St Elizabeth agricultural extension services.
The drones were to assist extension officers to efficiently and speedily gather information in relation to farming in challenging terrain.
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Mr Hutchinson also identified the value of the equipment for farm security, given the multi-billion-dollar devastation wrought by farm thieves annually.
The MP, a former agriculture minister, told his listeners of how a farmer had located a stolen cow using a surveillance drone.
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A month later Member of Parliament for St Andrew West Rural Mrs Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn (JLP) called for greater use of drones in crime-fighting and surveillance, especially in remote, hilly areas with heavy vegetation.
By way of background, our reporter told us in that article two-and-a-half years ago that the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) had reported its continuing use of drones in its operations.
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We were also told that the police drone team was trained in the operation of the devices in counter-surveillance, reconnaissance, and other activities to support the core functions of the JCF.
Then, in December of last year Dr Andre Haughton, aspiring candidate for the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) St James West Central constituency, suggested a combination of drone surveillance technology alongside traditional policing in Mount Salem.
Our view is that modern technologies, including surveillance drones, should be twinned to JamaicaEye and the wider surveillance architecture to cope with crime, antisocial behaviour, and indiscipline on our roads.
We accept the word of our security authorities that improved intelligence and surveillance have contributed significantly to admirable successes in the fight against crime over the last two years, more especially in recent months.
In that respect, we note word from attorney-at-law Mr Chukwuemeka Cameron in our latest Sunday edition that the use of drones “is an illegal act if you do not have a licence from the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority, and secondly, it’s a breach of privacy if it involves persistent surveillance — whether by private citizens or the police…”
Mr Cameron was responding to reports from Sligoville, St Catherine, that drones which some residents suspect are being operated by the police are watching their every move.
We are told that the police have denied knowledge of any such surveillance operations targeting Sligoville.
But what if there was an identified need for such police surveillance in any community?
Mr Cameron tells us that, “The police must be conducting a lawful investigation to justify any sustained monitoring that invades private space.”
Said he: “If [drone operators] can identify you and track your movements daily — let’s say every day between 7:00 am and 10:00 pm, and they do so consistently over a week or two — then, unless it’s part of a lawful, targeted investigation, that would be a violation of citizens’ right to privacy.”
That’s important food for thought as the country advances the crime fight.
At bottom line, even as the society ensures the protection of privacy rights, criminals must not escape through loopholes merely because of inattention to detail, or because our laws have lagged behind rapidly evolving technologies.
