Gary tells Kamla: I was no failure as CoP

FORMER commissioner of police (CoP) Gary Griffith has dismissed claims from Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar that he was a failure as CoP.

Griffith made this comment on August 26, in response to statements made my Persad-Bissessar at a UNC cottage meeting in Chaguanas hours earlier.

In his response, Griffith described Persad-Bissessar as the local version of US President Joe Biden in local politics.

He cast doubt as to whether the National Transformation Alliance (NTA), which he leads, will form an alliance with the UNC for next year's general election.

He served as CoP from 2018 to 2021.

Persad-Bissessar claimed that all national security ministers under the PNM between September 2015 to now had failed.

Those ministers included Edmund Dillon, Stuart Young and Fitzgerald Hinds.

She said CoPs appointed during the last nine years were also failures.

The CoPs during that period were Griffith, McDonald Jacob, who acted in the position, and incumbent Erla Harewood-Christopher.

Persad-Bissessar claimed the PNM had a habit of bypassing the most qualified candidates chosen by the Police Service Commission and hand picking its preferred candidate to be CoP.

In a statement, Griffith said, "Her comments about my tenure as CoP, where she falsely claimed I was a failure, only serve to highlight her lack of understanding of national security."

He repeated that during his tenure as CoP from 2018 to 2021, " public trust in the police increased significantly to 59%, and we achieved the highest reduction in violent crime in 17 years.

Griffith, a former national security minister under the Persad-Bissessar led People's Partnership administration between 2013-2015, said this is a fact that stands in stark contrast to her baseless claims.

This, he continued, brings her political acuity into question.

Griffith asked whether Persad-Bissessar is now the "local Joe Biden."

He recalled that one year ago, she praised him as the best CoP and invited him to speak at the first UNC town hall meeting on crime in St Joseph earlier this year.

Griffith asked, " Will the rank and file now stand up in the same manner as Joe’s people did and ask him to face reality, or will they refuse to tell her the truth?"

On July 21, Biden dropped out of the US presidential race after a disastrous debate with Republican rival Donald Trump. Several members of the Democratic Party publicly called on Biden to step aside as the party's candidate. He subsequently endorsed US Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him.

Griffith said Persad-Bissessar's attack against him provides further evidence that she "is not the leader that the UNC, or the country, needs."

He added that her focus remains on division and destruction rather than unity and progress.

Griffith asked UNC supporters to consider the party's future should Persad-Bissessar continue as its leader.

"If Kamla Persad-Bissessar continues to lead with this destructive attitude, the UNC will remain in opposition for years to come. It is time for the rank and file of the party to demand change, to insist on leadership that can unite, not divide."

Griffith said he has nothing but respect for UNC supporters for their dedication to their party.

"My criticism is not directed at you, but at the leadership that is steering the party away from its true potential. "

The UNC had an alliance with the NTA for last August's local government elections.

Those elections ended in a seven-seven tie between the PNM and UNC. The NTA did not win any electoral districts in any of the 14 local government corporations. The party did, however, secure an alderman in the Diego Martin Borough Council.

Persad-Bissessar and Griffith had a public fallout in February after Persad-Bissessar claimed smaller political parties were piggybacking on the UNC and bringing nothing useful to their relationship.

On March 31, Griffith said if the UNC did not want to form a proper alliance with the NTA to contest the next general election against the PNM, the NTA would fight both parties across the board in all 41 constituencies.

He said in such a scenario, the NTA would direct the majority of its political resources into key marginal constituencies of which the PNM and UNC must win a majority to be elected to government in 2025.

Griffith added that the NTA will not enter into any accommodation with the UNC which only sees it contesting PNM stronghold seats.

On July 2 , Griffith, COP interim leader Kirt Sinnette and HOPE political leader Timothy Hamel-Smith made a joint appearance at the Red House to commemorate the anniversary of the 1990 attempted coup.

All three men indicated at that time, this did not imply that all three parties had agreed to form an alliance for the election.

But they did not rule out the possibility of such an alliance taking shape.