Residents: Gangs keep St Paul Street safe

St Paul Street, Port of Spain, may be associated with gangs, but residents say gangs actually keep them safe.

The community has been the site of several shootings involving high-powered weapons, the most recent of which resulted in a police officer being shot.

Police officer Shakala Charles was on patrol in East Port of Spain around 8.30 pm on July 22 and responded to a shooting at St Paul Street.

On seeing the police vehicle, gunmen in a silver seven-seater vehicle started shooting and Charles, who was in the front passenger seat, was hit. The bullet penetrated the side of his bulletproof vest.

Another man, identified as Keron George, of East Dry River, was also wounded in the attack.

Both the officer and George were taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital.

The area has also become synonymous with a gang known as 6ixx, but residents say the stigmas attached to the area are ignorant and unfair.

A shop owner in the area said while delivery vans were reluctant to come into the area, there was little chance they would be robbed if they did, as there was an “order” to be maintained.

“I think sometimes the (gang) leader is better than the police. Because they stipulate nobody supposed to break into anybody place. So sometimes you could forget your place open, and nobody ain't coming in. And if anybody come and steal, they have to go and answer to the boss.”

He said the criminals in the area were not afraid of the police.

“They are afraid of whoever running the system now. I think that is why (the gangleader) has so much strength. Is what the bossman say, they do. They ain't breaking into your shop and they ain't robbing no truck. They run things.”

The stigma in the area, though, means despite the safety he enjoys, there are logistical complications he must endure.

“Right now, I am very much in pain, in the sense that so much people was delivering and now nobody delivering any more. We have to go and source the goods ourself. So it's a problem. But you can't blame the people for not wanting to come.”

Another woman who identified herself only as Redsy said the stigma was unfair, as no one outside of the community knew exactly how things work.

“They don’t know us. How would you know about a place you have never been and just hearing about it? You have to come and get to know we in the back here and see why it is the way it is, and why we are how we are. It’s not a bad area.”

She said the gangs helped ensure law and order in the area.

“They provide some kind of order but not to push no crime. Just to be peaceful and not to make it worse."

She added, contrary to belief, gang members also tried to steer young people away from a life of crime.

“They do little things like have a fun day and other activities. They try to let the youths be focused on that and not study the crime and be on no gun thing.”

She said there were negative aspects of the gang’s presence. but said those were caused by public perceptions and animosity by some people from other communities.

“We shouldn’t have labels and any kind of gang war. That is what making people watch us as bad people, because of how they label us as numbers, and people are afraid to come to the area, because an area is 6ixx or one area is Seven. I don’t like and don’t appreciate that aspect of it.”

Vendor: Gangs defend community

Many of the residents questioned the definition and perception of what a gang is.

Asked his thoughts on the presence of gangs in the community, a roadside vendor said, “What is a gang?

"The people in Parliament is a gang. Them chairmen and board members, when they holding meeting, is a gang. So I don’t know what is a gang.

"That is hard to say, because look at how much of them does assemble in Parliament. That is more than the number of people they say make up a gang.”

According to the anti-gang law, a gang is defined as “a combination of two or more people, whether formally or informally organised, who engage in gang-related activity.” Gang-related activity, as defined by the act, refers to almost 50 illegal acts including kidnapping, larceny, drug possession, prostitution, murder, manslaughter and assault.

The vendor said he did not see the presence of a gang as something bad and suggested the people being considered gang members were just defending themselves and the community.

“If a man trying to kill you what you go do? They telling you go to the police, but you don’t know if that man who trying to kill you have links in the police. So is a sticky situation where you have to defend yourself or become a statistic.”

He said the stigma and fear of the area were misplaced, but were nothing new.

“For the morning, I sure over 1,000 people done pass here safely. The stigma is just that, a stigma. Men will perceive you as you is.”

Pointing to a Newsday reporter’s work attire as an example, he said, “Look how you come dressed to talk to me.

"But if you come with a Marvin Gaye (hat) and your pants below your waist, I am going to look to programme you one time.

"It’s all about how you carry yourself. That determines how people will address you.”

Resident: Police target us

A resident from one of the main housing developments in the area suggested the shooting involving the police officer raised questions about the ability of the police to protect residents.

“It have two police stations nearby and this is the third time (a shooting) happened around there. So the police like they don’t have any strategic plan to put vehicles in strategic places to prevent it.

"I don't know that for sure, but I’m just saying, because it’s outsiders who would have come to the area, and it's three times this happened. They're driving up the same road and men running with rifles in front the police station. So it have no police in the station?”

The man, who gave his name only as Akame, said he felt the police were targeting residents after the shooting.

“They coming around and getting on more aggressive than usual. But nobody here ent shoot no police, so I don’t know why they coming here with their aggressiveness.

“They know who shoot their colleague. They were there and it have cameras. I sure the cameras pick up everything. They know exactly what went on.

"But in the back here have a stigma, so they think, ‘You could do them anything in the back there, and them ent really suing the State, so we could do them anything and get away with it.’

"I guess that is what it is, but I could be wrong.”

He said it was not his first time experiencing a situation like that and it had coloured his opinion of the police.

“Right now I don’t like police at all. It is not even distrust. I don’t like them.

"And it’s because of the things they do to me. I am no criminal. I go to work every day, but they just target me because of the community I live in, my friends, and who I’m related to. And it shouldn't be like that.

“But that’s what the police do around here. If they come in here and see you and they know you related to a gangster, they looking to stress you and carry you down (arrest you) for 72 hours.

"I went through that for years and now I normal. I don’t stress when it happens. I just get my bed spot and wait my 72 hours to come out.”

He said there were some good officers who tried to build relationships with residents, but called for more training for police officers.

“I understand they might have problems at home or at work, so you might have an outburst with your emotions. But as an officer, you need to know you are not a normal civilian, and you have to go to training to hold your composure and learn to hold your anger.”

'Gang members helping people'

He said the gang members and gangleaders played an invaluable role in the community and the public was being shown only one side of the story.

“If it wasn't for these men, half of the people in this community will starve and die from sufferation. It's these same gang members and gangleaders feeding people, paying rent for people, helping out people.

“If you are gang member and you so pestful (sic) to the village and you're distressing the village, you don’t feel the whole village will come together and get rid of you?”

He said the gangs were doing what the politicians were not doing.

“I don't know where they get the money from (or) what they do to get their money, but when they get their money, they help the community.

"So it’s obvious people will like them.

"That’s where the whole stigma thing comes up and they say people supporting gangs. But it’s not that.

"Let’s be real. You will support who feeding you.

"If PNM feeding you, you will be for them. If UNC feeding you, you will be for them. So if the gangs feeding the people, they will be for the gangs.

“If you giving me a work and making sure I have a salary to see about my family and buy groceries and pay my bills, I will feel like it's within me to protect you and make sure everything is all right with you. Because he's the man who making sure everything all right with me."

He said if the government wanted to see a change, it would need to weed out the corruption in society.

“Who in control of the borders? None of us have any boat or plane to bring in 100 AR-15 guns.

"Right now the government just trying to clean a dirty floor with a dirty mop.”

Resident: Government must address unemployment

He noted there were no CEPEP or URP projects in the area and said the Government needed to address the unemployment in the area.

“You have to give the youths food and work. If it have ten youth men on a block and they know we could work in the area and get $300 for the day, I believe at least seven of them will go there and work.

"The next three might be on s--t and say, ‘I don’t want no work, I is a gangster.’ But it have no opportunities for them, and the devil finds work for idle hands.”

Akame said not everyone could resist the temptation of crime.

“Not everybody mind strong. If you tell them, ‘Let’s go rob and get some money instead of sitting here and suffering,' not everybody strong enough to say, ‘Nah, I good, I go hustle instead.’

“Everybody I know who lives a violent lifestyle, who is a criminal or a gangster, them doesn't enjoy that. I have friends who are gangsters and we talk on a personal level, and they don’t enjoy their life and living that life.

"But some people just not strong in the mental and they feel like they have no choice and no hope.”

He called for more youth programmes in the area.

“Colour Me Orange and Life Sport were good, but without the corruption.

"All these things are nice little programmes the youths can benefit from. But if it has nothing going on for them, they can’t even go and work, because they are being targeted based on where they live.

"So the government needs to come more and talk to the youths and find out why they are how they are.”

Police: It’s not a 'fight down'

Contacted for a response, Deputy Commissioner of Police Operations Junior Benjamin sought to assure St Paul Street residents that police were not targeting them.

He told Newsday it was part of a plan to increase police presence around the country.

“This is part and parcel of the anti-crime plans of the police service, where we are going out there and we are going to deal with matters.

“The police is really at a place where we are taking a zero-tolerance approach, and it doesn't matter where it is, because we want to ensure law and order in TT. And that goes for all areas, because our vision is to make every place safe in Trinidad.”

He called on residents and the rest of TT to let the police do their job.

“The police service is there for law and order. In some communities there seems to be a reverse order, and we have to stand up to put the wrongs right and take back our communities from the gang leaders.

“We must allow the police to work with these communities to bring us back to that place where law and order must come from the police service, and from persons who can really uphold the law in terms of what is required in this society.”

Councillor: People complain about gangs

Councillor for St Ann’s River Central Esther Sylvester said she was reluctant to comment on the claims by residents that gangs kept them safe, as she had heard the opposite from some of her burgesses.

“There are others who will complain to me, ‘My family cannot visit me. My children have a self-curfew coming from school and are living like prisoners.’

"So I cannot comment based on the opinion or the comments of one person, whereas others may come to me with different complaints. So I want to refrain from saying anything on that.”

Addressing residents' calls for more youth programmes in the area, Sylvester said the St Paul Street Sporting Facility was undergoing repairs but insisted the MP, Keith Scotland, worked closely with residents to provide programmes suited to them.

“Some programmes that are offered may not be in the area because facilitators and instructors, from the time they hear about the area, they are reluctant to come in. Also, some of the burgesses are reluctant to come out.

"So that is where we have maybe a small window to improve with regards to bringing programmes in there.”