Shootings against police down due to 'one shot, one kill'

Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat in the Senate. The minister expressed concern about
Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat in the Senate. The minister expressed concern about "get slim quick" products during a parliamentary committee meeting on Friday. - ANGELO_M_MARCELLE

A SHARP reduction in shootings against police officers is partly due to the "one shot, one kill" policy of the Commissioner of Police, said Leader of Government Business in the Senate Clarence Rambharat.

He was responding to a question in the Senate on Tuesday about measures being taken to address an "increase" in shootings directed at police and an "increase" in deaths of police officers in the line of duty.

Rambharat said the information provided to him by the police service showed a fluctuation in shootings against police officers for the period 2015-2019.

He reported that in terms of off-duty officers the figure was 33 for 2015, fell to 12 in 2016, rose to 48 in 2017, fell to 36 in 2018, and then fell by one to 35 in 2019.

In relation to on-duty officers there was a spike in 2018 of 88 (he did not provide figures for the three previous years), but the count was down to eight in 2019.

On the deaths of police officers killed in the line of duty he reported there had not been any since 2015 – PC Sherman Maynard, 27, was killed on July 24, 2015 during a jailbreak at the Port of Spain Prison.

Rambharat said the reduction in shootings against police between 2018 and 2019 was due to a few measures, namely Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith's "one shot one kill" policy; improved training; and psychological support and employee assistance to address the health and wellness of officers.

In 2018 Griffith defended his controversial policy,explaining,"Anyone who aims a firearm and shoots at my officers, they have my full support to fire back, and it is not to injure."

The Law Association and lobby group Fixin' T&T were among the groups that expressed concern over the policy but Griffith has stood by it.

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