Police are not magicians – Tobago cops say public won't help reduce crime

AS Tobago continues to reel from a record 19 murders for 2024, Snr Supt Rodhill Kirk has urged Tobagonians to work with police as "we are not magicians."

Trinidadian Victoria Guerra, aka "Dolly Boss," became the island's latest murder victim on August 5. She was shot while liming in Argyle. She died at the Roxborough hospital.

Moriah resident Ezra Sylvester and two other men were shot while liming near a car park on Carrington Street, Scarborough on August 3.

Police said a black Matrix pulled up and five masked men got  out and started firing at the group before escaping in the car.  The men were taken to the Scarborough General Hospital but Sylvester was pronounced dead on arrival. The Matrix was later found abandoned on Milford Road, Scarborough.

It was the second time in about a week that Sylvester had been attacked. On July 26 he was shot by gunmen but survived. Police said Sylvester was not co-operating with their investigation.

Kirk said gangs were targeting specific people. He said the police had been trying to get information on gangs so arrests could be made.

"The thing is, although we have been working, we wouldn’t know when people would strike, but we know that they have the capability and who they may be targeting. And that is why we try to reach out to some of those persons to actually exercise a level of care and caution as well.

"But most of the persons are persons who are not willing to co-operate with the police and they’re willing to chance it themselves, and this is how it usually ends.”

He said murders were a national problem.

“We’ve seen 16 alone in one weekend in Trinidad. It is not isolated to Tobago alone. It has been a growing trend with the increase in gang-alliances activities. So it is something that whilst it is our aim and objective to dismantle criminal gangs to reduce the violent crime, we have been doing our bit. But at the same time, we can’t be everywhere all the time, but we are doing our bit.”

He added: “We have made some small steps, we would have charged persons for violent crime in the recent past. For the year, we have put several persons before the courts for shooting, some of them who are now on bail, and it is the same group of persons keep recurring.

"The police have done our part, these persons are entitled to bail, they were granted bail, and some are coming out and we’re getting the same information about the same people.”

He called for public support and a collaborative approach to tackling crime.

“We would see that there were some activities recently with the licensing officers working alongside the police and you would realise how the Tobago public were critical.

"But again – a vehicle was used to perpetrate the crime that was perpetrated there, a vehicle was used on the one before and a vehicle was used on the one before that. It tells me that criminals are using the opportunity to use a motor vehicle to come into the space and get away.

"I am asking the public, let the police do what they have to do. It may mean a little inconvenience for members of the public, but how can we do it without you?

"When you see something and you don’t say something – we are not magicians. We are there to investigate crime, we are there to detect crime, but we can’t do it without the persons who are affected most, which are the population, and most of these persons, they live somewhere, they sleep somewhere, they congregate somewhere.”

Kirk said homicide officers were pursuing certain leads.

“It would be a bit premature for me to make mention of certain things, but they are working on the leads that they have at this point in time. I’m hoping that it would bear some fruits, but I don’t want to pre-empt anything or jeopardise any part of the investigation.”

Criminologist: Gangs fighting over Tobago’s illicit economy

Criminologist Darius Figueira warned that gun violence on the island would continue to escalate.

Figueira said, “From 2017 the (gun) violence escalated in Trinidad. What is happening now is that the reason for the violence is now washing over into Tobago, so there is a transition in control over the illicit trades. All the violence is connected to the illicit trades – drugs, the guns, the human smuggling, the money laundering.

"So what has happened over the years, Tobago has developed an illicit economy model that is different from Trinidad.”

The product, he said, including the guns and the human trafficking, is coming directly into Tobago.

He said there was a battle for control of that illicit economy.

“It is a plum that must be picked. With Tobago’s unique illicit economy, it is integrated into Caribbean pipelines. Trinidad could shut down or it can sink into the sea, Tobago's illicit economy will continue functioning and striving and growing.

"So that means, because Tobago’s illicit economy is hooked into these trans-Caribbean pipelines that’s moving from South America northwards to then go into Europe, you have elements now fighting over control of that economy.”

He said the island was becoming increasingly unsafe.

“The very geography of Tobago will intensify the impact of the violence. The geography of the island and how the settlement pattern is laid out, when you get these graphic acts of violence you have the tendency where you have to pay a high collateral damage where innocent people are going to pick up shots.”

What has to change now, he said, is the approach to policing.

“To break this cycle of violence, you have to start policing transnational organised crime and concentrate on the people who’s pulling the strings – not on the foot soldiers only on the ground.”

He added: “The time has now come for us to sit down, reflect on the reality, face what is the nature of the reality and act accordingly. We have to put measures in place that are relevant to Tobago’s reality on the ground.”

In an unrelated incident, around 1.35pm on August 2, officers responded to a report of a wounding at Sea View Trace, Golden Lane. On arrival, they found Lawrence Bacchus with injuries and being treated by Emergency Health Services personnel, who later took him to the Scarborough General Hospital for treatment. However, he died of his injuries at 4.50pm.

Earlier that day, Bacchus and a relative had an altercation, when the man allegedly chopped Bacchus repeatedly with a cutlass. A short while later, Bacchus was seen sitting at the side of the road with a wound to his head and the man was standing next to him with a hay fork.
The suspect was later arrested and detained at the Shirvan Road Police Station.

Investigations are continuing.