Marked for death

A St James businessman has been marked for death by a criminal gang after CCTV footage showing four men hastily leaving the scene of an early-morning murder went viral on social media hours after it was shared “confidentially” with cops, his attorney has revealed.

The attorney, Donnovan Collins, said his client wants to remain anonymous and did not authorise him to divulge how the police got possession of the video.

The death threats were relayed by telephone and through friends and have been reported at the Montego Bay Police Station, according to Collins and a receipt seen by The Sunday Gleaner.

Donovan Hayles, 52, also known as ‘Pepper’, was shot multiple times while carrying out repair work in the Campbell Lane section of Mount Salem, St James, about 9:30 a.m. on October 24, the police report.

He later died at hospital.

Twelve hours after the killing, police investigators apprehended two suspects linked to the killing and seized two guns – an AR-15 assault rifle and 9mm pistol.

The recording, which was viewed by The Sunday Gleaner, clearly shows four men getting into a grey motor car that shows up immediately as they ran from the yard where the killing occurred.

The car made a U-turn then sped away.

But even before the suspects were apprehended, the recording quickly began circulating on several social media platforms, according to the attorney and several posts seen by The Sunday Gleaner.

Collins said almost immediately, his client began receiving death threats from unknown individuals, who demanded that he remove the video from social media – “something that is out of his hands”.

He said the threats continued the following day, with the perpetrators warning ominously that they knew where to find his client.

CAUSE FOR NATIONAL CONCERN

The businessman’s ordeal should concern all Jamaicans, the attorney said, pointing to laws under which a citizen can be compelled by the police or a judge to preserve and hand over data such as CCTV recordings that are “reasonably required” to assist with a criminal investigation.

He was referring to the provisions in sections 17 and 21 of the Cybercrime Act 2015. The legislation also makes failing to comply with the preservation order a criminal offence that is punishable by a maximum three-year prison sentence, a fine of up to $3 million, or both.

Failure, without reasonable excuse, to comply with the order to produce the recording in an acceptable format is also a criminal offence punishable by a maximum four-year prison sentence, a fine of up to $4 million, or both, the law stipulates.

A conviction in the circuit court carries a maximum seven-year prison sentence.

“While this legislation can be advantageous in the fight against crime in Jamaica, I don’t believe that there is anything in place to protect those persons who are compelled, by law, to provide this delicate data,” Collins said on Friday in response to questions from The Sund ay Gleaner.

“When passing laws of this nature, our legislators need to figure out how citizens like my client will be protected.”

Superintendent Eron Samuels, commanding officer for the St James police, did not respond to questions asked by The Sunday Gleaner last Thursday.

It is a breach of police regulations and the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s communication policy for cops to leak potential evidence such as video recordings into social media and other public spaces, a retired police investigator disclosed.

“And in my view, any person who is caught doing that can be criminally charged because if it is seen as an attempt to pervert the course of justice, then that’s another issue,” said the retired cop.

In addition, the ex-cop indicated that police investigators are aware of the formal process that must be engaged when they are extracting CCTV footage that could become evidence in a criminal trial.

“So we serve a preservation order, then we send the experts to come and download it and it is used as evidence. We have an obligation to protect the integrity of our cases,” the ex-cop said.

“If a person is at risk, then that is also a factor in how we treat with it – whether we use it as intelligence or evidence – because we would not want to expose the witness to threats or danger.”

The leakage of “sensitive information” in social media by cops has not escaped the attention of Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake, who has warned that he will be taking a zero-tolerance approach to what he described as a security threat.

Writing in the Force Orders – the internal police newsletter – he said too often, “highly-confidential information” finds its way into the public domain, “shared carelessly through messaging platforms and other informal channels”.

“Very little does more harm to our image, reputation, and the security of the people we serve than this type of recklessness from a few among us,” he said last month, noting that the integrity of information is not only an operational necessity, but a matter of public trust and safety.

RISK OF COMPROMISING INVESTIGATIONS

Declaring that the practice “must stop forthwith”, Blake said breaches of confidentiality are not just ethical violations; they also risk compromising ongoing investigations “and in the worst cases, possibly, could cost lives”.

Crime Stop, which has been operational for 35 years, and its companion anti-crime initiative JamaicaEye both revealed last week that because of rigorous internal controls their systems have never been compromised.

JamaicaEye is a public-private partnership that uses a network of CCTV cameras – including public-facing camera feeds donated by businesses and private citizens – to monitor public spaces across Jamaica.

It disclosed, however, that private connections to the network have been suspended because of a “cyber incident” that occurred last year.

The Ministry of National Security insisted that this was a “precautionary” move as the cyber incident was not related to private connections.

“To our knowledge, there have been no incidents of individuals being identified or targeted due to their contributions to the JamaicaEye network,” the ministry told The Sunday Gleaner.

Between January and September this year, 640 tips flowed into the Crime Stop hotline that resulted in the seizure of 38 guns and 1,257 bullets, as well as 42 arrests for offences such as murder, illegal gun possession, and sexual assault, Manager Cherise Brown-Douglas revealed.

A total of $5.1 million was paid out in rewards over the nine-month period.

The non-profit fielded 894 tips over the comparative period last year, resulting in the seizure of 38 guns and 450 bullets, as well as 33 arrests, while paying out total rewards of $8.5 million.

“We have come to realise that persons genuinely want to make a difference and they use the avenue of Crime Stop to share information so that wanted persons can come out of their communities and they’re just not interested in the reward,” said Brown-Douglas, explaining the year-on-year decrease in rewards paid out.

She said in 35 years of operation, there has never been any leak of information shared with the police.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com

Editor’s Note: The Gleaner notes a release issued by the Jamaica Constabulary Force challenging the veracity of the contents of this article.

The Gleaner is satisfied with the reporting in this article and stands by the reporter.