Following the circulation of a viral video, during which men accused a Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) officer of planting a magazine in the car they were travelling in, the JCF has denied any wrongdoing.
Reports indicate that the incident occurred on Sunday, October 12, in the St. Catherine South Police Division near Naggo Head. The JCF’s senior communication strategist, Senior Superintendent Dennis Brooks, disclosed to Nationwide News that a patrol team had observed multiple shirtless men in a car allegedly speeding towards a gas station.
SSP Brooks said that the patrol team stopped the vehicle out of due diligence. The men were reportedly returning from playing football and agreed to the officer’s request to search the vehicle.
The police intern agreed to have the men film the search. In the video circulating online, one of the officers can be seen searching the back passenger area of the car.
After the search is concluded, one of the men asks the officers if he can get their names, but he receives no response. Another man then points out the magazine that has been left in the back of the vehicle, which the officer retrieves from under what appears to be an item of clothing.
The video sparked controversy online, but according to SSP Brooks, the magazine accidentally fell from the officer who searched the car. Brooks said that before the search, the officer had handed over his gun to a colleague. However, there was still a magazine that was lodged in his ballistic vest that reportedly fell inside the car while he was exiting the vehicle.
Brooks said that the officers reportedly commended the men for alerting them that the magazine had fallen on the passenger seat.
Superintendent Brooks went on to note that the video had evidently been edited and does not show the true sequence of events that occurred during and after the search.
“Watching the video, it is clear you are not watching the sequence in chronological order. You’re watching the end of the video and then the beginning of the video. You’re watching the end of the process, and you see when the vehicle drives away. And then you see a clear jump cut, then you’re seeing prior to what you just saw before. And so the moment you start watching the video, you know the video’s been edited,” Brooks said.
