CORAL SPRING, Trelawny — Against a backdrop of growing public uproar over a sharp increase in fatal police interactions across Jamaica, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Delroy Chuck has delivered a clear, controversial clarification of the legal boundaries governing law enforcement use of force, urging citizens to comply with police actions even as he acknowledged his remarks would likely draw sharp criticism.
Speaking at last Friday’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Policy Development and Estate Planning Public Education Forum, hosted at the Ocean Coral Spring resort under the theme “Resolving Disputes, Securing Legacy”, Chuck laid out the long-standing legal precedent guiding police conduct: under common law, reaffirmed by decades of judicial rulings, law enforcement officers are legally permitted to deploy reasonable force — including lethal force — when it is the only viable option to stop a fleeing felony suspect.
Chuck explained that the framework for use of force is not a new policy crafted by the current administration, but a well-established legal principle that has stood for generations. “If the person is trying to escape and the only way to apprehend the person is deadly force, it is still reasonable force in the eyes of the law,” he asserted to the gathering of justices of the peace and public policy stakeholders.
The justice minister stressed that maintaining public law and order remains one of the most dangerous and challenging core responsibilities of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, and that police are the only legally authorized body in the country empowered to use coercive force to uphold public safety. He emphasized that while officers must always exercise their discretionary power responsibly and proportionally, the public has a corresponding obligation to comply with arrest instructions.
Chuck was careful to underline that the appropriate level of force is always dependent on the specific circumstances an officer faces on the ground. To illustrate this proportionality requirement, he gave a stark example: if a suspect attacks an officer with a non-lethal weapon like a toothpick, there is no justification for deadly force; but if a suspect confronts an arresting officer with a lethal weapon, the officer is legally within their rights to use whatever reasonable force is required to neutralize the threat.
His core message to Jamaican citizens was unambiguous: when an officer places you under arrest, you must surrender peacefully. Resisting arrest, he noted, carries its own separate criminal charge, and any claims of unlawful police conduct should be pursued through the judicial system after the arrest, not through in-the-moment confrontation. “If the police have arrested you wrongly you can sue the police for false imprisonment,” Chuck explained, adding that extrajudicial pushback against police operations undermines public safety and the rule of law.
Chuck’s comments arrive at a moment of heightened national tension over fatal police shootings. Official data from the Independent Commission of Investigations shows that 133 fatal police shootings have already been recorded across Jamaica since the beginning of the calendar year. The most recent high-profile incident, the killing of Latoya “Buju” Bulgin in Montego Bay’s Granville community, has sparked widespread public outrage and local protests. Witness accounts shared with local media indicate that Bulgin was attempting to turn off the engine of a stationary vehicle when the vehicle shifted and an officer opened fire.
Though Chuck did not directly reference Bulgin’s killing or any other specific incident during his forum address, he repeatedly called on Jamaican communities to abandon confrontational tactics against law enforcement during apprehension efforts. “And I hate to see when communities start to take on the police, and fighting when they are trying to apprehend someone. We need to stop it! We need to stop it!” he said.
Chuck also called on the public to develop greater empathy for the daily dangers and challenges that police officers confront in the line of duty, noting that too many citizens respond to routine police interactions with verbal abuse and hostility, rather than respectful cooperation.