Samaroo Village – Trinidad and Tobago's latest crime scene: Prison officer shot dead

A popular community liming spot in Arima was the latest scene of another shooting spree which left one man dead and another injured on Thursday.

Kendell Smith, a 36-year-old prison officer who was last posted at the Maximum Security Prisons in Arouca, was killed, and 22-year-old Caydel Aguilera, from Samaroo Village, Arima, was injured. CCTV footage of the shooting which occurred at around 5.58 pm, have gone viral on social media.

One video clip shows a man looking into the distance before scampering into a house. Shortly after, Smith stumbles into the video frame where he collapses. Another clip shows a white Nissan Ad Wagon stopping in front of the house and two men carrying guns exited the car and started to fire. Both gunmen, clad in black T-shirts, black hats and face masks, returned to the car which drove off.

Residents using Smith's vehicle, took both men to the Arima Hospital where Smith, a resident of Greenvale Development in Cunupia, was pronounced dead. Aguilera was warded and his condition is unknown.

Newsday visited the area on Friday and spoke to a man who asked not to be identified. He said the house is a popular liming spot that can be rented for a day or a few hours and people carry their own drinks and food. When asked about crime in the community, he told Newsday that nowhere in TT is safe. He believed Government has failed to get a handle on crime.

“There are corrupt elements in the police service so how do we really expect crime to be dealt with? You see how the officer slapped the phone out of the man's hand in Curepe? And what about the woman officer who talked rudely to the man who called for help?"

He was referring to a January 5 incident caught on video involving an officer of St Joseph Police Station and an unidentified man who called the station seeking assistance after a home invasion. The WPC could be heard berating the man and asking him if he really expected police to go to him. She asked if the man knew where the police station was located, and when he said yes, she told him to visit it to make a report.

After the audio went viral on social media, the National Security Minister and Commissioner of Police both condemned the officer’s behaviour. The other incident referred to another video showing an officer in Curepe Junction slapping a cellphone out of an unidentified man’s hand on Wednesday.

The resident said young people need to get involved in developmental programmes and believes no one should be liming in public spaces anymore due to the increase in gun violence. The man also called for the death penalty to be used.

Another resident, who like the first, did not want to be identified for safety reasons, called the area a hot spot.

"We need more police patrolling, that is the only thing I think could help. Crime not just in this neighbourhood, but all over. It's affecting everyone."

A prison officer, who asked not to be identified, said he worked with Smith and confirmed the victim regularly visited the liming spot. He questioned if Smith was really the intended target of the gunmen, since another man was seen in the CCTV video, who managed to escape by running into the house. The prison officer described Smith as a hard worker who loved a good lime.

President of the Prison Officers Association (POA) Gerard Gordon, extended condolences to Smith's family. He said that shortly after the shooting, he visited the crime scene, then then hospital and later, to Smith's family.

"This is not a novel or strange occurrence, but the feelings of disgust are not diminished. What is unfortunate is that Kendall Smith is simply going to become another number, another statistic for 2024," Gordon said.

Gordon said numerous suggestions have been made, over the years, including adjustments to the Prison Service Act, with the intention of protecting officers in all law enforcement agencies.

"The law enforcement act is something the government never seemed interested in. Based on our experience and looking at other jurisdictions, this is not a peculiar situation here. But when your neighbour's house is on fire, wet your own. Here, prison officers' houses are on fire,and we are proposing an act that wets our neighbours' houses to protect them.”

He acknowledged the amendment to the Prison Service Act but says it has done little to protect officers. Gordon said, in the past, the association asked government to provide 25 safe houses to officers living in hotspots. But only ten were given. He said officers were not trying to get free State housing on the sly.

Gordon spoke about a digitisation plan which was suggested to National Security. This plan would see all prison officers' homes being outfitted with security cameras and be monitored in real time with its own alarm system. He said this proposal too was rejected.

"Whatever suggestions are made, we are ignored, leaving us to wonder what is the real purpose of the Government when it comes to the safety and security of not only prison officers but the public at large.”

Gordon said Smith's family are deeply traumatised by his murder.

"The government has grouped protective services as essential services. They basically believe this gives them a licence to do with us as they please. We are not citizens; we are not humans. We are akin to slaves who are receiving a salary. We cannot protest, we cannot this, we cannot that, we cannot the other as would be the case with a normal public servant. So we are not workers, this government has never cared about the well-being of officers,” Gordon said.

Newsday tried several times to reach Acting Prisons Commissioner Deopersad Ramoutar for comment, but was unsuccessful.