Tobago cop: More murder charges coming

ALTHOUGH suspects have been charged in just two of the ten murders in Tobago in 2024, Snr Supt Rodhill Kirk has said officers are close to making more breakthroughs.

Kirk was speaking during June 17’s Scarborough police town hall meeting at the Spring Garden/Whim/Union/Mary’s Hill (SWUM) Community Centre.

He said: “We have had better years, and I want to tell people, in spite of what you are saying, that very soon we should see some of those persons end up before the court.”

He said a murder investigation takes time to gather all the information.

“And even so, with all the work that the police do in respect of a murder, murderers are granted bail and they come back within your community again and the cycle repeats if you don’t be careful.”

He called on the public to be the eyes and ears of the police.

“Crime is everybody’s business and not just the police. As Robert Peel said, ‘The people are the police and the police are the people.’”

Peel, a 19th-century British politician, is known as the father of modern policing.

“So we have to fix things in the community.”

He said if Tobagonians don’t take stock they would have to ask permission from gunmen to leave their homes.

“We can’t allow Tobago to reach that state.”

Kirk said he was surprised to learn that some people are renting out apartments to tenants without even knowing their names.

“We have to police our own space,” he said.