Yesterday I wrote about the United Nations’ report on global homicide rates. Specific to Jamaica, the report found a 35 per cent decrease in murders since 2009. This is good news, taken at face value. However, as a reader pointed out, this rate does not reflect “extra-judicial” killings. Nor does it reflect unreported deaths or missing people.

But back to “extrajudicial killings”. INDECOM (the body that investigates deaths involving authorities) calls them, “security-forces” related deaths. Let’s do away with the euphemisms.

These are deaths, usually by firearm, that involve the Jamaica Defence Force or the Jamaica Constabulary Forces. For many years, there have been allegations of rogue security forces. (Check out my post on “death squads” here.) There are two separate issues here: one is the allegations of policemen and women who kill criminals for reasons other than self-defence, and two is the issue of using lethal force when it may not be required. In other words, the accusation goes, authorities are abusing their authority with the result being lives lost unnecessarily and without the presumption of innocence and the requisite right to a fair trial.

Such an atmosphere, where corrupt police allegedly abuse their authority, is obviously a major problem and a symptom of a severely unhealthy democracy. One could even argue that this, combined with other factors such as requiring financial bailouts from an international body such as the IMF, could constitute a failed state. There is no official, internationally agreed-upon definition of failed state, and I wouldn’t go that far, but corrupt security forces and unhealthy finances are two symptoms that require immediate attention in terms of staving off the breakdown of the state.

But back to a story being reported by RJR News today. INDECOM is reporting a 47.3 per cent decrease in “security-forces related” deaths so far this year. From the story:

In January 2014 the Commission recorded 22 fatalities, down from the 30 recorded in January last year. This represents a 26.6 per cent decrease; while in February 14 fatalities were recorded, down from 27 in 2013 which is a 48.1 per cent decrease.

For the month of March, the Commission record four fatalities, which it says is the lowest in the history of the Commission. Last year 19 fatalities were recorded in March, which means there has been a 78.9 per cent drop from the figure recorded in March 2013.

“We are certainly encouraged by these figures and we hope that the number will continue on a downward trajectory, going forward. It is particularly refreshing given the report of the general decline in crime during this period,” said Commissioner of INDECOM Terrence Williams said.

Here are the total number of deaths, annually, from the story: NDECOM statistics reveal that, for the past three years, the annual figures for fatalities were as follows: 2011 – 210; 2012 – 219; 2013 – 258.

Any decrease is good news. But in context and in reality, any death by firearm involving a state institution required to protect its citizens is too many. The flipside of this coin, however, is of course that criminals are out of control and that security forces must protect themselves and their colleagues’ lives. It is a complex situation involving many social factors, and hopefully this positive trend will continue.

(This report from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights provides more background and characterizes the situation better than I can.)