Griffith: No need for new vetted police units

NATIONAL Transformation Alliance (NTA) political leader Gary Griffith has questioned the need for new vetted units in the police service to fight organised crime.

Griffith, a former police commissioner and national security minister, asked this question in response to statements the Prime Minister made at a news conference at Whitehall, St Clair on Friday.

"Vetted units are nothing new. We had vetted units before (in the police service)."

He identified the Special Branch and the Special Operations Response Team (SORT) as examples of such units.

Griffith said, "To get into these units you have to be polygraphed. You do a a stringent background test. You analyse that the person is competent and has the professionalism and maturity to keep a degree of confidentiality."

He said during his tenure as police commissioner, SORT was "instrumental in the most amount (sic) of raids and arrests pertaining to the major criminal elements in this country."

Griffith added that SORT was disbanded in February 2022. It was replaced by the National Operational Task Force.

Griffith said when SORT was disbanded, criminals were able "to get back a foothold."

He added that only one group of people was to blame for this: "The politicians that run the government right now."

In his briefing, Rowley spoke about his discussions with US government officials in Washington, DC, this week on creating vetted police units to deal with organised crime.

Rowley, who is also National Security Council chairman, also said the resources of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Department of Homeland Security are being made available to the Government to fight crime.

Asked specifically about the threat posed by organised crime, Rowley said Trinidad and Tobago was an open country when it came to international trade and international contact.

"What we have been discovering is that certain criminals are liking us, and these are not small-timers. I say no more on that."

Rowley declined to answer any further questions on the subject.

"These are matters of national security, which ought to better be kept where they are at the moment."

He promised the media there will be another news conference on February 6 to deal exclusively with matters of national security.