Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - Aujourd'hui 06:28

PM: Police stations being closed for fear of criminals

THE Prime Minister says he has received reports of police stations being closed to the public because officers are afraid of being attacked by criminals. He made this comment on January 13 as he opened debate on a motion in the House of Representatives to approve the grounds on which the state of emergency (SoE) was declared on December 30. President Christine Kangaloo signed the proclamation on that day. Her statement outlining the reasons why she did so was laid in the House on January 13. Kangaloo's statement was made pursuant to section 9 (1) of the Constitution, which provides that within three days of her making the proclamation of the SoE, a letter will be delivered to Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George, outlining the grounds on which the SoE was declared. The signed letter from Kangaloo to Annisette-George was dated December 1. Kangaloo said she was advised by Cabinet on December 30 there had been 61 murders that month and 623 murders for the year at that time. Cabinet, she continued, also advised her that over the preceding 14 days there had been an increase in the level of violent crimes, "leading to the death of individuals via the use of illegal firearms and in particular, firearms of high calibre, including, but not limited to automatic firearms which have lead to over 20 homicides in the past seven days." Kangaloo was advised that two days before December 30 of two serious criminal activities involving the use of illegal, high-powered firearms which endangered public safety. The first was an attempt to kill a person suspected to be a criminal gang leader outside the Besson Street police station on December 28. The second was the shooting of six people at Prizgar Lands, Laventille on December 29, with one person dying at the scene and four others later at hospital. Kangaloo said police intelligence advised National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, who in turn advised the National security Council that criminals in East Port of Spain, Laventille and environs throughout the country "were likely to increase their brazen acts of violence in reprisal shootings on a scale so extensive that it threatens persons and will endanger public safety." The PM, as National Security Council chairman, advised Kangaloo about this. Kangaloo said, "Having considered the information provided and given the above premises, I was satisfied that action has been taken, or is immediately threatened by a person, of such a nature and on so extensive a scale, as to be likely to endanger public safety, to the extent that warranted the declaration of a state of public emergency." Dr Rowley referred to this information as he debated the reasons why the SoE was declared. He said anyone familiar with Trinidad and Tobago over the last 20 years would be aware of a minority of people engaging in violent crime. But he added this problem has become worse in recent years. "Persons see opportunities for profit or revenge on a daily basis and all they seem to have done is improve their killing machine." Rowley said this had happened over the lifetime of several governments and national security ministers. He recalled the SoE called in 2011 by the UNC-led People's Partnership coalition government was because 350 people were killed, and then 600 people were murdered in 2023. Rowley said this was too many, given "the amount of effort, resources, dollars, policemen, security services, information gatherers. promotions galore and of course, the concerns of the citizens." Instead, he continued, crime has worsened. "The cancer is spreading." Rowley was concerned the problem was reaching to the extent that the police were afraid of the criminals. "It has come to my attention, in some districts, police officers, whose job it is to protect and secure, in some districts at night are so afraid of the criminals that they close the police station, turn off the lights and be inside there, hoping that the criminals don't curse them," Rowley said that is not supposed to happen, but it happens. He said crime is no longer confined to any particular area, nor does it affect any particular group of people. He recalled one politician argued the way to reduce crime was to "castrate the males in Laventille." Rowley repeated crime has become a public health issue. "The society has been under attack from a criminal element which we have not been able to suppress." He said this does not mean government has not been making efforts to do so. "When you look at the resources we have directed to this problem, you ask yourself, if we had been able to escape this, what would we have done with the billions that we have directed to secure ourselves. "What is more painful is that the more we spend on it, the more the criminals find opportunities to expand their enterprise." He added this is happening at all levels in society, with people recruiting "youngsters male and female, parents and cousins into criminal enterprise." Rowley said they are being helped by other corrupt people, and even if they are caught, continue their wickedness from the prison. Criminals, he continued, believe they have the power to act with impunity and there will be no consequences to their actions. "When they have an event, to conduct a killing, it is no longer killing of a person, it is an attempt to kill everybody within range." He repeated the intention of the SoE was to give law enforcement greater powers to act against criminals while not negatively affecting the economy and protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens. In this regard, Rowley regretted a decision by two cruise lines not to come to Tobago because the SoE was in effect. He said there is no evidence in Tobago there is an SoE and it was unfortunate some people did not take time to understand what was happening. Rowley also repeated his concern that "the rules that we have made and the laws that we have made, at the enforcement level, are not sufficiently rigorous to treat with the harshness and the cruelty of the criminals." The House later approved athree-month extension of the SoE. The post PM: Police stations being closed for fear of criminals appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.