UNC: Put ankle bracelets on all lawbreakers to reduce crime

ATTORNEY Jagdeo Singh is advocating for the placing of electronic bracelets on every lawbreaker, as an effective tool to crime reduction.

As a panellist at the UNC Town Hall meeting on Justice Reform at the Barataria Community Centre on November 25, Singh made the case for "placing an electronic bracelet on every person charged with an offence and on bail, and to modify the terms of bail to prevent the accused from consulting with known criminals.

"Statistics show that most serious and violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders and this would result in an overnight reduction in crime."

Being able to monitor the offenders, he said, could be a deterrent to committing crimes.

Also on the panel were attorneys Devesh Maharaj and San Juan/Barataria MP Saddam Hosein, who both spoke out on the critical state of crime and called for a number of measures, including better equipping of the police and reform of both the prison and court system.

The panellists discussed shortcomings of the justice system, ways government can deal with gender-based violence, a backlog of 40,000 cases in the courts, the lack of acceptable DNA testing facilities, the absence of halfway houses to reintegrate ex-prisoners into society and the absence of support for thousands of victims of serious crime.

They also spoke of 4,444 complaints of physical and sexual abuse of children; the 575 murders in 2024 to date; the low murder-detection rate of eight per cent, which they said allowed murderers to walk freely in society; and the long times it takes for relatively simple matters such as traffic tickets, land judgements, child maintenance or small commercial disputes to be determined or even heard by the courts.

The group also suggested increasing the number of criminal courts, currently under 15, to deal with more than 600 pending murder indictments; changing legislation for automatic good behaviour of prisoners; passing a time limit-law, such as exists in the UK, where a judge has a specific time to deliver a judgment on hearing a case; as well as restarting mediation and alternative dispute-resolution mechanism for matters to be settled without reaching the courts.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who presided over the meeting, speaking on the slow pace of the court system, said, "Justice delayed is justice denied." She said it was a fundamental problem for democracy and rule of law which a UNC government would fix.

Saying  marijuana use had an adverse effect on a person's mental health, Persad-Bissessar proposed raising the legal age for gambling and marijuana use to 25 and over.

The recommendations are among proposals contained in the UNC's 2025 general election manifesto, as well as modernising prisons, and using intelligence services for crime-fighting, “and not for spying on political opponents.”

On salary increases proposed in the 120th Report of the Salaries and Review Commission, Persad-Bissessar said she wanted none of that.

“I'm waiting to see what the government does. They have laid the 120th SRC report in the Parliament. There's been a lot of noise about it in the public domain because it gives to the Prime Minister his highest ever raise, if he accepts it. This is the first time in the history of our country that the Prime Minister – if they accept that report – would be paid more than the President. So I'm watching and waiting to see what happens.

"But I will say this. I do not believe the Prime Minister should get an increase at this time. I do not believe the President should get an increase at this time.

"I do not believe that Kamla Persad-Bissessar should get an increase at this time. No, no! Now is not a time, when you're offering people one and two and four per cent.

“It is obscene. It is obscene. It is disrespectful at this time.”