PM demands action after murder spree: ‘Hunt, disarm criminals’

RISHARD KHAN

The Prime Minister has made a committment to increase the state’s efforts against crime, which he said is now “ridiculous.”

In a post on his Facebook page on Tuesday morning, Dr Rowley condemned the levels of crime  plaguing the country.
“Notwithstanding the persistent efforts of the various state machinery, the selection of violence as a way of life, the love affair and glamorization of firearms and the wanton disregard for human life in Trinidad and Tobago has now gone beyond concerning to the ridiculous,” he said. He said the persisting violence will not be tolerated and the government will increase efforts to “hunt and disarm” criminals.

“The state will redouble all efforts to curtail these violent outbursts, will hunt down and disarm the perpetrators and will make operational adjustments so that the state security services can act with despatch against the violent cohort of our national population.”
As head of the National Security Council, Rowley convened a meeting with heads of the protective services yesterday at the Prime Minister’s residence.

A post on the Office of the Prime Minister’s Facebook page said this included Commissioner of Police Erla Christopher, acting Chief of Defence Staff Group Capt Kemba Hannays, Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young and Attorney General Reginald Armour.

President calls out reserve soldiers

The Prime Minister’s statement and the meeting came the day after there were eight murders within 24 hours and just hours after the commander in chief of the TT Defence Force (TTDF), President Christine Kangaloo, called out 100 reserves to bolster the main forces to work with the police, gazetted on Monday afternoon,.

Kangaloo cited section 238(1) of the Defence Act, Chapter 14:01, which allows the president to make such a move.
“The President may call out the Volunteer Defence Force or any portion of it for actual military service with their arms and ammunition, in aid of the civil power in any case in which a riot, disturbance of the peace, or other emergency requiring such service occurs, or is, in the opinion of the President, anticipated as likely to occur, and in either case to be beyond the powers of the civil authorities to suppress, or to prevent, or deal with,” the notice said.

The 100 members will be on active duty for 123 days beginning from October 30,  to February 29, “to strengthen the TT Defence Force capability towards the fulfilment of operational support to the TT Police Service in the provision of a safe and secure environment during the pre-Christmas season to the 2024 Carnival period.”

In a brief voicenote shared with Newsday yesterday, Harewood-Christopher said the TTPS has a history of collaborating with the TTDF and welcomed the additional boots on the ground over the period.
“We will continue to establish strategic alliances with our national security agencies to enhance our intelligence and crime-fighting capabilities, and we look forward to achieving significant results as we do so,” she said.

UNC renews calls for crime talks

In a release on Tuesday, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar dismissed the move as nothing more than a public relations stunt.
“Rowley attempts to appear tough but cannot continue putting a public relations plaster on a crime problem that requires holistic plans with measurable objectives,” she said.

She said the Prime Minister fails to acknowledge the root causes of crime and “the underlying socio-economic (cause) that drives the issue."

She called on him to once again explore the crime talks with the opposition and other experts. “Accepting help in the anti-crime fight should not be viewed as a weakness; humility and cooperativeness are signs of confidence and strength. No citizen in our country wants to see a continuation of the violent crime crisis,” she said.

“The Government must stop fighting against the law-abiding citizens who want to help in the anti-crime fight and start co-operating. No citizen in our country, including every member of the United National Congress, wants to see a continuation of the violent crime crisis. The Government should accept the help on offer!”

While the President’s move to call out the reserve forces has garnered significant public attention, former police commissioner Gary Griffith said this is not a new tactic. In a release on Tuesday, the National Transformation Alliance political leader urged the public not to panic.

“I wish to assure the public that the proclamation from President Kangaloo notifying that 100 members of the Volunteer Defence Force, now known as the Defence Force Reserves, will be called out to support the TTPS for the pre-Christmas and Carnival seasons, is nothing new, and there is nothing ominous afoot, as it has been done for decades. In fact, the document circulating on social media is a copy-and-paste one, with the date changed,” he said.

The legal notice garnered significant traction on social media.

Commenting on it, Griffith said this was down to two factors.
“One, the constant fear and panicked state that citizens are in because of the trauma of crime on the soul of the nation, and two, the lack of proper communication from the Government, to swiftly quell public speculation and to share the fact that this has been done for years, simply to provide support for the TTPS, during their busiest times of the year.”

Criminologists divided on additional soldiers

Head of the UWI Criminology Department Dr Randy Seepersad said he liked the idea of having the reserve soldiers assisting police officers. He said this would increase the protective service’s visibility and act as a deterrent to criminals.

“I would say it’s something that’s a bit overdue and perhaps should have been done a while before,” he told Newsday.

He suggested even more than 100 reserves be utilised.

He added that since TT has no immediate external military threats, there should be a mechanism of training that can have some soldiers absorbed into the police service.

However, criminologist Darius Figuera was sceptical of any benefit of having added boots on the ground. Like the Opposition Leader, he believed this was a political move by the Prime Minister.

While the Prime Minister’s statement and meeting came hours after the President called out the reserves, there were no explicit statements that linked Kangaloo’s move to instructions from Rowley.

Newsday was unable to get comments from Hinds or the acting Chief of Defence Staff.