Firearm registry being established
Jamaica is creating a firearm registry, which would increase the State’s ability to track weapons on the island. Speaking during the Caribbean Association of Forensic Sciences Conference at the AC Marriott Hotel in Kingston, on June 10, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Dr Horace Chang, noted that registry will be stored at the Institute of Forensic Science and Legal Medicine. He said that every firearm coming to Jamaica will be given not only the serial number they have, “but we will do our own serial number here by the FLA (Firearm Licensing Authority), which will mark them”.
“So, in addition to tracking weapons that are already involved in criminal activities, we will have a database for all legal weapons in Jamaica, including the government weapons. We are building it out to become a central database for everything that impacts the criminal justice system,” Chang informed.
In 2014, the Forensic Science Laboratory and the Legal Medicine Unit were merged to form the Institute for Forensic Science and Legal Medicine. This merger was approved by Cabinet. The Institute operates as an independent investigative entity under the Ministry of National Security.
Chang also noted that the Government is building a modern autopsy suite which is expected to be opened this year. The state-of-the-art facility is expected to bolster the work of the forensic institute, increase the forensic capacity of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and reduce the backlog of criminal and other cases.
“We will be working closely with not only colleagues across the Caribbean but with the universities … to ensure that we can begin to develop a pool of individuals in the JCF, and beyond, who are qualified in forensic science and legal medicine,” he said.