Griffith: Buying sniper rifles for SSA is no crime

FORMER commissioner of police (CoP) Gary Griffith says the purchase of sniper rifles for the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) is not a criminal offence and cannot be used to justify the arrest and questioning of incumbent CoP Erla Harewood-Christopher.

He claimed there were some people within the ranks of the police who were constantly trying to displace others to get their jobs.

Griffith called for the immediate removal of the police's Professional Standards Bureau (PSB) and a return to the use of internationally accredited institutions to select CoPs and deputy police commissioners (DCPs) instead of the Police Service Commission (PSC).

Harewood-Christopher was arrested at her office in Port of Spain on January 30 and questioned as part of a criminal investigation into the importation of sniper rifles for the Strategic Services Agency (SSA).

She was detained at the St Clair Police Station and subsequently released at 5.50 pm on February 1.

A statement on March 3, 2024, from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) said the National Security Council recommended the removal of then SSA head retired Major Roger Best, the appointment of Brig Gen Anthony Phillips-Spencer as interim director and an audit of the agency be done.

Best, who was subsequently fired last March, was also arrested in relation to the importation of the rifles on January 29.

He was subsequently released from the Belmont Police Station.

As a former CoP, national security minister and TT Defence Force (TTDF) officer, Griffith said he had more knowledge than most people about what could be at the heart of Harewood-Christopher's predicament.

In a WhatsApp video on February 2, he said "It is amazing that up to now, the police service cannot say what they planned to arrest and charge Erla Christopher for."

When Harewood-Christopher was released on February 1, her attorney Pamela Elder, SC, said no evidence had been shown to justify her arrest.

Griffith said the Firearms Act only allowed the police and the TTDF to bring in prohibitive weapons.

"The SSA is not seen as a law-enforcement agency so they will not be entitled to have prohibited weapons because all the individuals in the SSA are hired as civilians."

He said there was nothing illegal about sniper rifles being purchased for the SSA.

"A sniper rifle is not a prohibited weapon because it is not an automatic weapon."

Griffith claimed someone in the police's legal department "who is not very bright" might have thought this was an offence under the Firearms Act.

"If that is the reason for what they did to Erla Christopher, my God, it shows the standard of the legal departmentt of the TTPS (Trinidad and Tobago Police Service)."

He added the only thing the acquisition of sniper rifles for the SSA might do was cause administrative glitches because another organisation had to buy those rifles for them.

Griffith said Harewood-Christopher's situation was not new.

"This has been going on for the last few years in the TTPS. The object now seems to be, whoever is the king or the queen, your role is to try to take down that person and your reward is to get the crown."

Griffith said he saw it when he was commissioner from 2018-2021.

"There was a certain individual, he tried to target someone so that he could be charged while he was a DCP. Then he put a fake report that stopped a man from becoming an ACP (Asst Police Commissioner), to become a DCP."

Griffith did not reveal the names of these people.

"When I was CoP, they certainly would not have done what they did with Erla. They would have known what would have happened."

He claimed, "So what they did was attempt to lie and influence politicians for me to be removed."

Griffith's tenure as CoP was not extended in December 2021 and McDonald Jacob was appointed to act as commissioner.

Griffith claimed when Jacob was acting CoP, there were moves to remove him from office as well.

"This is totally sickening."

Jacob was replaced by Harewood-Christopher who was first appointed CoP in February 2023.

When Harewood-Christopher turned 60 on May 15, 2023, Cabinet gave her a one-year extension up to May 15, 2024.

On May 13, 2024, the Cabinet extended Harewood-Christopher's by another year.

Her second extension will end on May 15.

Griffith referred to a news conference held on January 31 at the Police Adninistration Building in Port of Spain by senior police officers to explain the situation with Harewood-Christopher and lower-ranked officers standing behind them.

He asked how will Harewood-Christopher be able to work with these officers and vice-versa.

At that briefing, DCP Suzette Martin said the investigation would be fair.

Griffith had no idea how that situation would unfold.

But he suggested two solutions.

The first was the immediate removal of the PSB.

Griffith claimed the PSB had been "the platform for officers trying to buss the throat of senior officers to try and get their job."

The PSB is a division of the police that investigates allegations against officers.

He said the unit's powers should be transferred to the Police Complaints Authority (PCA).

The PCA monitors and audits the PSB's investigations.

The authority handles complaints against the police through independent investigators.

Griffith's second suggestion was to allow a return to internationally accredited institutions, with skills in law enforcement, being used to select CoPs and DCPs instead of the PSC.

He urged rank and file police officers to hold their heads high and continue to serve with integrity.

Griffith urged citizens to continue to respect and support the police.

"Those officers who are on the ground. They have done nothing wrong. This has to do with the hierarchy making a whole mess of this."