The public killing of Latoya Bulgin in Granville, St James, was a chilling reflection of the deep contradictions embedded within Jamaica’s policing culture and its enduring crisis of state accountability.

In death, Bulgin has become a national symbol of police excess and institutional inhumanity. Her killing stands in stark contrast to the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s heavily marketed slogan: “To Serve and Protect”. For many, especially those living in impoverished and heavily policed communities, the events captured on camera in Granville suggest that the State’s security apparatus often interprets “service” through domination and “protection” through violence.

The irony is impossible to ignore. On a day globally associated with honouring women, nurturing, and motherhood, a Jamaican woman was publicly shot, dragged, discarded, and treated with a level of indignity that has outraged the conscience of the nation.