Griffith: Carnival 2020 a success

Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith saluted the performance of the service for Carnival 2020 calling it a success and hitting back at critics of the strategy he employed. Speaking at a media briefing to assess policing for this year's Carnival, Griffith cited a 95 per cent attendance of officers.

"Police officers are not robots, they cannot work 36-hour shifts out of 48-hours every day of the year. The reason why you see such an enormous turnout is we shut down every single unit in the police to be operational, 98 per cent of the homicides do not take place in the locations where the police provide security for Carnival.

Responding to reports of murders and traffic accidents over the heightened Carnival period, Griffith noted such incidents happened away and apart from Carnival events where the police focussed their resources.

He also hit back at critics who questioned the ability of the police to combat crimes outside the Carnival season, saying the focus of such large-scale manpower year round would be impractical and unrealistic.

He said the social media uproar over apparent tensions between soca artiste Neil "Iwer" George and Kenneth Petty, the husband of rapper Nicki Minaj was testament of the effectiveness of the police to quell serious crimes.

"It did not take place by chance. When we reach a situation in TT that the biggest incident that can be viewed by the whole country is an elbow-wrestling competition between Iwer George and the spouse of a world class entertainer from TT shows that we have succeeded because that was the biggest incident."

Griffith also said this year's Carnival was a historic one in that it was the first time individual police officers were equipped with tracking devices to co-ordinate their movements along with using helicopters from the TT Coast Guard and drones for air support.

Also at the briefing was deputy commissioner of police in charge of operations Jayson Forde, who said he was also pleased with the performance of the police and noted the positive feedback he received from revellers and spectators on the road.

He said this year's Carnival was one of the safest in recent times as masqueraders felt comfortable and safe to enjoy the festivities throughout Port of Spain.

According to a release from the police, there were eight reports of serious crimes from 12 am on Carnival Monday and midnight on Carnival Tuesday, when compared to 12 reports for the same period last year.

The release also said a total of 67 people were arrested across TT for Carnival with 46 being charged.