MP Rodney Charles mourns murdered cousin Shakeem Charles

NAPARIMA MP Rodney Charles urged the police to solve the murder of his cousin TTRideShare driver Shakeem Charles and others killed last weekend, saying he rejected platitudes such as police stations being put on full alert.

In a statement on July 15, the opposition MP lamented the deaths of Shakeem Charles and 15 others.

"It is indiscriminately hitting closer to home and very soon every family in Trinidad and Tobago will be affected."

Without "decisive, serious, intelligent and visionary action," 2024 will become the new deadliest year with over 600 murders, he predicted.

He said life in TT was becoming “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short,” echoing philosopher Thomas Hobbes' description of England in 1651.

Charles said the police should have enough evidence to solve Shakeem's murder, such as tracking the GPS of his vehicle.

"Was CCTV in our road network not able to review the route taken of the vehicle as it made its way to Valencia where it was retrieved?

"Did the vehicle make any detours on its way to Valencia and if so where?"

Charles asked if the police had got a warrant to search the home of Shakeem’s passenger. Were the passenger's phone calls reviewed before and after the time of Shakeem's death, he asked.

"Were fingerprints taken from the vehicle?

"Did the police access CCTV footage from the ATM given that monies were withdrawn from Shakeem’s account after he was reported missing?"

Charles said Shakeem's murder could not be just written off as another random occurrence.

"The perpetrators cannot be allowed to feel that they are free to carry out their dastardly acts given poor detection rates and a less-than efficient police service.

"We are tired of empty platitudes like leaving no stone unturned or increasing police presence or putting stations on full alert."

Charles said TT has four times more police per capita than Toronto, yet the latter's detection rate greatly exceeded TT's.

"Sending more police to Tobago, for example, means nothing.

"It is time for the leadership of the police service to use its God-given brains, increase the use of modern forensic technology, use the laws that exist to incarcerate criminals, and diligently pursue 24/7 the criminal elements or 'crapaud smoke we pipe.'”

How many more murders must TT have before the police get a handle on crime, Charles asked.

"We do not have time for long-winded, pedantic, obfuscatory old talk, broken promises and pie-in-the-sky remedies.

"We urgently need specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely (SMART) crime-fighting strategies. We need them now, not yesterday, not tomorrow."

Charles said if the police were not able to secure TT, they must seek international help, "for our country’s sake, our international reputation, our fear of even walking our streets, our many fatherless children, our misguided youth in need of direction and leadership, our many grieving mothers, and our country that has lost hope."

Shakeem Charles left his girlfriend's home in Princes Town on July 9 and was seen that evening in Penal. When he did not return phone calls, his relatives became worried and reported him missing later that day. His car was found abandoned the next day in Valencia.

Shakeem's body was found in a bushy area in Penal on July 13.