Almost as fearful of the police as they are of criminals
In the northwest parish of Granville, Jamaica, a 45-year-old mother and businesswoman named Latoya Bulgin was shot dead by a police officer while seated in her minivan during a protest — a protest itself called in grief over another police killing just one week prior. Captured on CCTV and spread across social media, the footage has forced a nation to confront not only one officer's actions, but the accumulated weight of 130 people shot by security forces in a single year. An independent investigation has been opened, yet the deeper question Jamaica must sit with is older and harder than any inquiry: how many times has this happened in the dark, without a camera, without a witness, without a reckoning.
- A police officer fired on a stationary vehicle without apparent warning, killing a woman in front of bystanders who screamed and scattered — the act recorded in full by a CCTV camera that would soon make it impossible to look away.
- Bulgin's body was dragged from her minivan and thrown into the back of a police pickup truck with no first aid attempted, compounding the horror and raising urgent questions about evidence preservation and basic human dignity.
- The shooting was the second fatal police killing in Granville in seven days and the 130th person shot by Jamaican security forces this year, pushing community trauma past a breaking point and drawing sharp political condemnation.
- The suspended officer and an open Indecom inquiry signal institutional response, but opposition voices warn that public fear of police now rivals fear of crime — and that trust, once broken this visibly, cannot be restored by procedure alone.
- Human rights advocates are pressing the moment: without that CCTV footage, they argue, this death would likely have passed unexamined — making the case for mandatory body cameras not a reform proposal but a matter of survival.
On a Sunday afternoon in Granville, Jamaica, Latoya Bulgin — a 45-year-old businesswoman and mother of two known in her community as "Buju" — was sitting in her minivan as a protest moved around her. The demonstration had been called in response to the police killing of 17-year-old Tjey Edwardson just one week earlier. When her vehicle began to reverse onto the street, an officer standing nearby drew his weapon and fired without apparent warning. The shot struck Bulgin. Bystanders screamed. Officers then dragged her from the vehicle and placed her in the back of a police pickup truck — no first aid, no apparent care for dignity or evidence. She was pronounced dead at hospital.
The Jamaica Constabulary Force suspended the officer and expressed concern. The Independent Commission of Investigations opened a formal inquiry. But the second fatal police shooting in Granville in seven days — and the 130th shooting by security forces that year — had already torn something open. Opposition spokesperson Fitz Jackson said Jamaicans had grown "almost as fearful of the police as they are of criminals," and called for a transparent investigation that the community and nation deserved.
Human rights organization Jamaicans for Justice pointed to the CCTV footage as the only reason accountability was even possible. Executive director Mickel Jackson noted that without it, the conversation would not be happening at all — while also raising alarm that officers had moved the body before investigators could document the scene. Indecom echoed the importance of visual documentation while appealing for witnesses to come forward. The case would be scrutinized. But the question Jamaica could not escape was quieter and more unsettling: how many times had something like this happened without a camera rolling, without anyone watching, without anyone left to ask why.
On a Sunday afternoon in Granville, a parish in Jamaica's northwest, a woman named Latoya Bulgin sat behind the wheel of her minivan while a protest unfolded around her. The demonstration had been called in response to another police shooting—a 17-year-old named Tjey Edwardson killed just a week earlier. Officers were on scene managing the crowd. What happened next was captured on CCTV and would soon circulate across social media, igniting a national reckoning.
Bulgin, 45, was a businesswoman and mother of two, known affectionately as "Buju" in her community. The video shows her vehicle stationary at the roadside as people moved in and out. When the minivan began to reverse back onto the street, a police officer standing a few feet ahead drew his handgun and fired. There was no apparent warning. The shot struck Bulgin. Screams and shouts erupted from bystanders. Some ran. The officer's colleagues then dragged her limp body from the vehicle and placed her in the back of a police pickup truck. No one appeared to attempt first aid. She was taken to hospital and pronounced dead.
The Jamaica Constabulary Force responded with a statement saying it was "deeply concerned" and suspended the officer pending investigation. The Independent Commission of Investigations, the body tasked with overseeing police conduct, opened a formal inquiry. But the damage to public trust was already visible. This was the second fatal police shooting in Granville in seven days. It was the 130th person shot by Jamaican security forces so far that year.
Opposition politicians moved quickly to frame the incident as symptomatic of a deeper crisis. Fitz Jackson, the opposition's national security spokesperson, said Jamaicans had grown "almost as fearful of the police as they are of criminals." He called for a transparent and independent investigation, emphasizing that the community and the nation deserved the truth. The Granville residents, he noted, were now dealing with "an absolute tragedy, compounded by two fatal police shootings in just one week."
Human rights advocates seized on a different angle: the role of independent documentation. Jamaicans for Justice, an organization that has long pushed for body-worn cameras on officers, pointed out that without the CCTV footage, the shooting might have gone unexamined. "Without the availability of that CCTV footage, we would not be in the position to even be having this conversation," the group's executive director, Mickel Jackson, told Radio Jamaica News. But she also raised alarm about what the video revealed regarding police procedure. The body had been moved before investigators could document the scene. Officers had handled Bulgin's remains without apparent care for dignity or evidence preservation, hauling her into the street and throwing her into the back of a service vehicle.
Indecom acknowledged the significance of the footage, calling it a reminder of how technology and independent visual documentation matter in modern policing oversight. The commission appealed for witnesses to come forward and cautioned that while video captures important details, a full investigation requires official statements and witness accounts as well. The message was clear: this case would be scrutinized. But the broader question hanging over Jamaica remained unanswered—how many other incidents had occurred without a camera rolling, without anyone watching, without anyone to demand answers.
Citas Notables
The Granville community is dealing with an absolute tragedy, compounded by two fatal police shootings in just one week.— Fitz Jackson, opposition spokesperson on national security
Without the availability of that CCTV footage, we would not be in the position to even be having this conversation.— Mickel Jackson, executive director of Jamaicans for Justice
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does this particular shooting seem to have broken through in a way others might not have?
The CCTV footage. Without it, this becomes a he-said-she-said between police and witnesses. With it, there's no ambiguity about what happened—the officer fired at a vehicle that was moving away, with no visible threat.
The timing matters too, doesn't it? One week after another killing?
Absolutely. Tjey Edwardson was 17. Bulgin was 45, a mother of two. Same community, same police force, seven days apart. People weren't angry about one incident—they were angry about a pattern they could finally see.
What struck you most about how the body was handled?
That no one tried to help her. The officers dragged her out and put her in a truck. No first aid, no attempt to preserve the scene for investigators. It suggested a kind of indifference that went beyond the shooting itself.
The human rights group mentioned body cameras. Is that the solution?
It's part of it. But body cameras only work if footage is preserved, reviewed independently, and leads to accountability. Jamaica has a surveillance problem—not a lack of cameras, but a lack of consequences.
What does 130 people shot this year actually mean in context?
It means this isn't an outlier. It's the baseline. Bulgin's death was shocking because it was on video, not because fatal police shootings are rare in Jamaica.
Where does this investigation go from here?
That's the real question. Indecom has to prove it can be truly independent. If the officer walks, or if the investigation drags on quietly, the anger won't fade—it'll deepen.