Court: SRPs, municipal police can vote in police association elections

A High Court judge has ruled that Special Reserve Police (SRP), Municipal Police, and Transit Police officers can legally be members of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Social and Welfare Association (TTPSWA) and have the right to vote in its elections.

Justice Frank Seepersad gave the ruling on July 15.

Team Voices in Blue filed the emergency application over who should be allowed to take part in the association’s election, which was originally scheduled for June 30 but was stopped by the court.

Seepersad declared that the association’s updated rules, filed on July 1 with the Registrar General, were valid.

These new rules allow SRPs, Municipal Police, and Transit Police to join the association and vote.

The judge also said the court will decide whether former association president Anand Ramesar can run for office again. Lawyers must submit written arguments about his eligibility by August 4, with replies due by August 18. The court will give its final decision on August 26.

Seepersad had earlier granted an emergency order stopping the June 30 election. The order came after Voices in Blue members, led by Sgt Wendell Warrick, said the election process was unfair.

They claimed Ramesar, a former president and secretary, was wrongly allowed to run again after first being ruled ineligible. They also questioned the involvement of SRPs and municipal officers in the election, arguing it went against the association’s old rules and the Police Service Act.

The court had also ordered the association to temporarily stop collecting dues from SRPs, Municipal Police, and Transit Police officers, and to explain how many of them are members, how much money was collected from them, and the legal reason for doing so.

Until the final ruling in August, the court’s previous orders, including the suspension of the election, remain in place.