TT was headed for 600 murders

THREE months ago this country was on the path to more than 600 murders, Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith said as he spoke Wednesday at the weekly police media briefing at Police Administration Building in Port of Spain.

He said the level of murders can only change with the transformation of the Police Service.

“It cannot just be more patrols, more roadblocks. I am turning the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service into an intelligence-driven one.”

Griffith stressed the ultimate barometer to verify the status of a country with crime is homicide. He said that in May, June and July homicides increased this year compared to last year, “about 17 per cent for May, twenty-something per cent in June and fifty-something per cent in July. And if we continued, we were going to 600 homicides.”

He said that in August, there was a five per cent reduction in homicides, 23 per cent in September and for October so far, a 27 per cent reduction. “So there has been a drastic reduction compared to last year when it was 490.” The total homicides for last year according to the Police Service website was 495.

Griffith said people would say, “let’s not play with statistics”, but the country three months ago was heading to more than 600 murders. “I am fighting heavily now because we have a system which has not been the appropriate method to deal with curbing homicides.” He said there was a reduction every month for the past three months and his intention is to get back to “acceptable levels” of less than 150 murders a year, which was the case way back in 2000 and 2001.

“We are a very far cry from that however what it is we are doing now there is a reduction and we have not yet started what we intend to do with the transformation of the Police Service to peg back criminal elements utilising our resources to again ensure we have intelligence-driven policing.”

 He said the Emergency Response Patrol Unit which is to be launched today is one of about 75 policies to transform the Police Service within a year.

Griffith commended officers for how they have operated in the last few weeks including with the 6.9 magnitude earthquake, the unions’ day of “rest and relaxation”, plans to shut down the country and recent flooding.

The top cop told reporters that over the last few months there were five kidnappings with all five victims being accounted for and no money paid to the kidnappers.