Alexander on police killings: Video not the whole picture

Responding to claims that he was at the scene of Saturday's police killing, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) for the North Eastern Division Roger Alexander visited the protest at Juman Drive, Morvant, and ried to soothe tensions among the crowd.

Alexander said he was not on the scene at the time of the incident, but had seen the widely-shared video of the shootings.

"There may be some things that concern me. But please, let us allow the investigation to move forward. In order for it to be transparent, we need every person who would have witnessed the event to come forward.

"The video has presented a part of the evidence. It is part of the evidence. What we want is to complete the whole picture. I often tell people this: sometimes you may have a camera but it only shows you a part of the picture."

He urged the residents to let cooler heads prevail as enquiries continue.

While he understood the frustration and fears of the community over the killings, he said police, like anyone else, were subject to due process at the end of the investigation.

"I have the compassion, I have sympathy and empathy. But I want good sense to prevail and I'm not sure by doing this (protesting) will allow good sense to prevail.

"There are people making a lot of statements to the media here, I am hoping these people with the same information can come forward."

He said he wanted to assure the protesters that "justice will not only be served but you all will have a total account of what happened."

Responding to concerns over whether the police involved were acting inappropriately by working in Morvant, which was outside their designated zone of operation, Alexander said it was not unusual for members of the Inter Agency Task Force and the Guard and Emergency Branch to take action in areas outside their districts.

"It depends on the nature of the call, they may come to different areas and may not necessarily inform us first. There may have been communication between senior officers I am not sure who they would have communicated with each other."

He also said given the dangerous nature of police work , officers were entitled to wear masks while making arrests or raids to protect their identity and avoid being targeted by criminals.

He also responded to calls from social activist Kirk Waithe of advocacy group Fixin' TT for the officers involved to be suspended pending the outcome of the investigation, He said they were innocent until proven guilty and entitled to protection under the law.

He added, "In all situations involving police killings there (is) a thorough investigation, and it is not done just by the police."