Griffith slams Kamla for criticising cops during covid pandemic

NATIONAL Transformation Alliance (NTA) political leader and former commissioner of police (CoP) Gary Griffith has slammed Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar for questioning the way police officers enforced public health regulations during the covid19 pandemic.

Griffith, who was CoP from 2018-2021, was in office during the emergency phase of the pandemic.

At a UNC meeting in Chaguanas on September 16, Persad-Bissessar criticised police for not cracking down on a poolside party at Bayshore Towers in Cocorite during the pandemic but doing so on people having a sea bath in the same area.

Pictures of the people she referred to were displayed online during the meeting.

She asked, "What was the science in this, minister of death (a reference to Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh)? What was the science in this, CoP (Griffith)? Maybe the more melanin in your skin, the more covid you can spread? I don’t know. I am asking for a friend."

Responding to an inaudible comment from Opposition Senator David Nahkid, Persad-Bissessar said her "melanin" comment referred to how brown a person's skin was.

In a statement on September 17, Griffith said it was disappointing that Persad-Bissessar placed misguided blame on the police for their actions during the pandemic.

He added that she should focus on the government instead with respect to the public health regulations which were drafted at at that time.

Griffith said as a senior counsel, "Mrs Persad-Bissessar should understand that the issue lies in the legislation, not in the conduct of the police"

The regulations, he said, allowed the police to act only in public places to prevent people gathering and causing the virus to spread, and gatherings in private homes were outside the police's legal authority.

"This fact will never change, no matter who says differently.

"This meant that large gatherings at homes of even 100 or more could not be addressed by the TTPS (TT Police Service), such as at a private pool gathering, a Mother’s Day event and a wedding, but smaller gatherings in public spaces of five persons could result in arrests, such as at the beach, bar and nightclub."

Griffith added the inconsistency and ineffectiveness of these laws were not the fault of the police but a direct result of poor governance and decision-making by the government. He advised Persad-Bissessar to direct her frustration towards bad laws created by the government and not towards police officers who had to enforce them.

Griffith said doing the latter distracts attention from the real issue of ineffective governance and policy-making.

This, he said, should be "the focus of all the opposition forces who have aspirations of being in the next government."

There has been a public rift between Griffith and Persad-Bissessar since February, when Persad-Bissessar accused smaller parties such as the NTA of piggybacking on the UNC for its resources and bringing nothing to their partnership.

The two parties had an alliance for last August's local government elections, which ended in a 7-7 tie between the PNM and the UNC.

The rift between Griffith and Persad-Bissessar widened on August 26 when she claimed he was a failure as CoP from 2018-2021.

During the 2010-2015 tenure of Persad-Bissessar's former administration, Griffith initially served as her national security adviser and later as national security minister.