Police admit to increase in murders in last quarter of 2021

Officers of the Homicide Bureau of Investigations have admitted there is an upward trend in murders in the last quarter of 2021.

While this year’s murder toll to date is lower than the figure for the same period in 2020, police said October saw a 70 per cent increase.

But this upward trend started in 2011, according to Supt Rishi Singh of the Homicide Bureau of Investigations.

In a short presentation during a press conference on Tuesday morning at the Police Administration Building, Port of Spain, Singh said, “For a ten-year period, 2011-2020, the yearly national average for homicide is 424. For this period, the lowest per year was 352 in 2011 and the highest was in 2019, at 539. There was a general trend of from 2011 that led to that peak in 2019.

“For the third quarter of 2021, that is from July to the end of October, the TTPS observed that the number of murders began trending upward.

“For the month of July in 2020 we had 33. For the same month in 2021 there were 38. In August 2020 there were 23, in August 2021 there were 35. In September 2020 there were 24, with 58 in 2021.

“The percentage change is noticeable where in July 2021 is 15 per cent, in August 52 per cent, September 58 per cent and October 70 per cent.”

In a release on October 27, police denounced claims of a surge in murders. It said the murder toll for 2019 was 439 and for this year, 72 people were charged with murder, while the murder toll up to last Wednesday was on par with last year’s figure of 340.

The next day, in a social media post, former commissioner of police Gary Griffith denied police claims that there was no spike in murders over the last few weeks. Griffith said the country has seen an increase of over 55 murders over the same period last year. He believes this spike is due to his absence.

He said, "In 18 months, or the second half of my contract, from January 2020-July 2021, there was a 30 per cent drop in murders for the same period before, which represents 200 (fewer) murders; 150 in 2020 and 50 in 2021.

"If there were 200 (fewer) murders in the second half of my contract, and 55 more than the previous year since I’ve not been there, isn’t that a spike?”

Asked to respond to this comment, public information officer Snr Supt Sheridon Hill said there is no evidence to support Griffith’s claim that the country is seeing an upsurge in murder since he was removed as top cop.

“We have no data of an upsurge in crime relating to the former commissioner. We have no evidence of that.”