- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 19/Aug 19:27

Griffith: Law enforcement, policy before legislation

FORMER commissioner of police Gary Griffith says effective law enforcement and government policy are the first and second lines of defence against crimes like home invasion. He said legislation was the last line of defence in such situations. Griffith, who is also a former national security minister, spoke to Newsday on Whatsapp about the Home Invasion (Self Defence and Defence of Property) Bill 2025 which has been posted on the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs website. He said there were three different factors "that we have to look at as it pertains to protection of citizens in their homes." These are legislation, policy and law enforcement. Griffith said, "The legislation that the AG is putting here is the last line (of defence) The first line has to do with law enforcement." He asked, "How come you never had these concerns of home invasion previously before 2021?" Griffith was CoP from 2018-2021. He said there were clear reasons why home invasions were not a concern before 2021. "We (police) had specific type of systems for deterrent: high visibility, a rapid response by the law enforcement, special operations response team, emergency response patrols, GPS tracking of police vehicles, an effective 999 system and operational command centre." Griffith said by having those measures in effect, criminals knew that if they jumped over a wall to commit a crime, they would be neutralised by the police when they jumped back over the same wall to escape. He said the measures minimised the need to move to the second line of defence, which is policy. Griffith said government was now introducing policy to help law-abiding citizens to protect themselves through measures such as giving them greater access to legally obtain firearms. He recalled being criticised as CoP by the former PNM government for that initiative. Griffith said in previous situations where people used their legally issued firearms to defend themselves against an intruder, the weapon was subsequently seized indefinitely after the incident. He said the practice left people vulnerable to attacks by friends or associates of the criminal whom they neutralised. Griffith said legislation, such as stand-your-ground legislation, was the last line of defence against criminals. He added under the circumstances, it was critical for the relevant stakeholders to work hand-in-hand to address the situation. "The scales of justice have always seemed to be tilted towards benefiting the criminal elements than law-abiding citizens." Griffith said home owners often found themselves in situations when they had to second-guess whether they should protect themselves when their home was invaded. That uncertainty, he continued, is linked to whether or not the scales of justice would determine whether or not they had no other option besides neutralising an intruder. Griffith said that a one- or two-second hesitation "can cost somebody their life." The bill establishes a statutory right to self-defence during a home invasion for occupants in lawful possession and occupation of a home. The legislation also established a statutory right to defence of property during a home invasion for occupants in lawful possession and occupation of a home. The bill places some limitations on a person's ability to defend themselves in line with the fundamental right to life. Those include the nature of the force or threat being used against the occupant; the extent to which that force was imminent; whether a weapon, firearm or explosive device was used in the home invasion; the size, age, gender and physical capabilities of the parties; the nature and proportionality of the occupant’s response to the threat; and – whether the occupant did what he honestly and instinctively thought was necessary for a legitimate purpose. The post Griffith: Law enforcement, policy before legislation appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.