In the aftermath of the killing of three men in Laventille and the attack on the Besson Street Police Station, Ag Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams says there has been a heightened police presence in east Port-of-Spain since the two incidents. He also said there was no justification for a limited state of emergency. The call for a limited state of emergency came from the president of the T&T Police Service Social and Welfare Association Insp Anand Ramesar.
Minister of National Security Gary Griffith said, likewise, that such action was not necessary at this time as the various branches of law enforcement had the situation “completely under control.” Speaking to the Sunday Guardian in a telephone interview yesterday, Williams said he didn't want to use the word 'quiet' to describe the current climate in the area.
He added, “There have been no new incidents, developments, no protest action, no outbursts. The people of Laventille continue to live the way they're accustomed living. “There is an increased police presence, it is almost automatic when there is a situation where three persons have been gunned down, there must be a police presence which is heightened. “This is not a normal situation. We've not had that basically for the year in Laventille where three persons have been killed.
Williams claimed that regarding the levels of violence in Laventille in 2014 “we've seen a consistent pattern of it being reduced.” He said it was a shocking experience to note that five people had been shot and three people had died. Williams said that was the anomaly and the police service had heightened its activities and would maintain a heightened police presence in Laventille.
He said this was all geared towards ensuring that the police maintained peace in the community and protected the safety of all citizens, which was of utmost importance.
Two Laventille men remain warded
The two men who were wounded in the Laventille shooting on Thursday remained warded at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital up to late last night.
‘Gunmen keep residents, police, soldiers on their toes’
Criminologist Dr Randy Seepersad says the country is losing the battle against the growing number of gangs in T&T which has been fuelling the murders. Stating that gangs and gang warfare were present in almost every country, Seepersad said there was “no easy fix” to this growing problem in our country. “We are powerless to do anything about it. The operation of gangs has been fuelling crime and murders. That is a dangerous situation.”
He said Government first needed to find the organisations and “high profile people who are respectable in society” working behind the gangs. Seepersad said 50 per cent of the murders in T&T were gang related which was a worrying concern. He said police visibility will only control the gangs, but not flush them out.
Gunmen with their sophisticated weaponry have been keeping the police and members of the T&T regiment on their toes. Residents in certain parts of T&T have also been living in fear as a result. Three men were executed in Laventille on Thursday night. Following the killings, the Besson Street Police Station came under a brazen attack by gunmen. Security was further heightened in the east Port-of-Spain area.
Witnesses to the killings and residents of Desperlie Crescent were fearful of reprisals as they believed that the gunmen were members of the T&T Regiment. Seepersad, who spoke to the Sunday Guardian last week said, “If you knock out the gangs, the murder rate will drop by half. It seems as though the logical solution might be to bring in those heavy guns and armoured vehicles.” He, however, does not support the purchase of armoured vehicles.
He said, “It is not necessary. I would have put that money behind preventative intervention.” Seepersad said a major dimension to the problem was the youth, many of whom lived in depressed communities. He said, “We need to look and deal with the social dimension. When one looks at the youth in some communities they would tell you they have no other option but to commit crime. Research has showed that intervention and approaches tend to be more successful.”
Seepersad said governments had fallen short in coming up with a solid solution in the last 15 years.
He said, “We have always seen fighting crime as suppressive. Many criminologists will tell you that the more sustainable way to fight crime is to come up with preventative approaches.” Seepersad said T&T had a reactive model, in that we waited until things went wrong and then stepped in to correct it. Comparing T&T to other Caribbean countries, Seepersad said our murder rate was too high. In the last decade, Seepersad said, the highest number of crimes occurred in hot spot areas.
He said, “We need to target the high crime areas.“However, Seepersad said in the last five years there had been improvements as crime statistics were showing a downward trend. He said, “A big part of it has to do with the preventative intervention that they are starting to put in place.” He pleaded with the ministry to continue to use its budgetary allocation appropriately and strategically. “I am seeing some of that already.”
Seepersad does not believe in militarising the protective services, but allowing the police and army to work strategically and effectively in areas that are crime riddled.
Griffith: We are winning the crime war
National Security Minister Gary Griffith, meanwhile, said that T&T was winning the war on crime as major crime plummeted by as much as 80 per cent. Degrading gang activity was the next target, he said. He said he intended to reduce gang warfare, focus on terrorist activity, and reduce the perception of fear among citizens. Griffith said, “If we could crack or shut down the gang activity, this will play a major part towards the reduction of homicides.”
For 2013, Griffith said, 250 of the 400 murders were gang related. In 2010, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said there were 110 gangs operating in T&T, each with an average membership of 12 people. Asked if the six armoured personnel carriers and 20 armoured vehicles he intended to purchase would be used to fight terrorists, Griffith said “no.” The vehicles, Griffith said, which were expected to cost approximately $1 million each, would be used to protect law enforcement officers.
Griffith said the six armoured personnel carriers will not be equipped with any weaponry, while the 20 armoured vehicles similar to Sports Utility vehicles come with bullet-proof glass. Each vehicle can withstand high-powered rifles and grenades. Griffith said every five days a police officer is fired upon by criminals.
He said, “This has been going on for the past two years. We are allowing police officers to become a vulnerable target and put their lives at risk. All that we are doing is making sure police officers are protected.”
Griffith said the vehicles would be used for specific situations such as “volatile situations, counter terrorist activity, and hostage negotiations.”
Griffith promised to go all out to fight the criminal elements by utilising the $6.9 billion that was allocated to his ministry in the 2014/2015 budget.
Over the last five years, the Ministry of National Security has been allocated $27.6 billion.
Heerah: Gangs have ‘heavy artillery’
Executive Director of the National Operations Centre (NOC) Garvin Heerah said that gangs have heavy firepower and that security forces must meet the threat with modern equipment, tactics and training. High-powered weapons and rifles were confiscated in several raids and there was information and intelligence on their existence.
He said when weaponry of that nature was being used against law enforcement personnel, it was only obvious that the security forces had to scale up and put preventative and protective mechanisms in place. Heerah said the defence forces were also escalating their vigilance and elevating the standards of their weapons, uniforms, and protective gear to treat with the risks that they faced.
Heerah said much of the equipment being used by the armed forces were near their expiration stage and for the safety of its personnel, these weapons and equipment had to be decommissioned. He said the crime, the criminal, and the criminality of the past were different from today.
Crime fighting measures undertaken from 2010 to 2014:
• 13 police surveillance bays constructed along the medians of the Uriah Butler and Solomon Hochoy highways at a cost of over $10 million
• Community Comfort Patrol launched at a cost of $5.2 million for a trial period of four months.
• A visible increase in law enforcement presence throughout the country with more anti-crime operations, roadblocks and stop and search exercises
• Modernization and development of the Crime Scene Investigation capabilities to improve detection rates
• Re-establishing of bilateral relationships with Venezuela and Colombia so as to foster a collaborative approach to border security
• Utilizing William Bratton and the former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani, who together were responsible for the massive crime reduction in New York city. This partnership would result in a national security assessment for T&T, as well as establish working relationships between the NYPD and the TTPS and other lead national security agencies
• The establishment of a National Security Special Operations Group, a highly trained Counter Terrorism Group, involving members of TTPS, TTDF, Prisons and Customs officers
• Acquisition of 12,500 body bags
• An additional 1,000 police officers and 1,400 special reserve police officers recruited
• $70 million spent by Government to increase the TTPS’ fleet of vehicles by 200
• Eight state-of-the-art police stations with computerised technology constructed in Arima, Piarco, Maloney, Cumuto, La Brea, Oropouche, Brasso and Moruga
• Rapid response units within various police divisions strengthened with more than 330 police vehicles equipped with GPS tracking systems.
• Harbour patrol vessels for Coast Guard.
• Body cameras for TTPS
• Expansion of CCTV network by 500 cameras throughout T&T
• Customer service and protocol training of police officers to improve police professionalism on the job and in their interactions with citizens
•Use of simulation theatres to train officers in real life encounters to ensure minimum use of force
• Training of more than 269 Crime Scene Investigators to increase the staff at the Homicide Investigations Bureau of the TTPS.
•Ordered 2,500 9mm pistols
•Volunteer Defence Force was called out to provide security assistance from August 29 to January 7, 2015.
Griffith’s implementation plan for 2014/2015
• Unmanned aerial vehicles
• Comprehensive K9 audit
• Taser/pepper spray for TTPS
• Speed gun for police
• Tenders to commence for long-range patrol vessels
• Tender for fixed wing aircraft for Air Guard
• Interceptors for Coast Guard
• Coast guard floating platforms
• Radar to be fully operational
• GPS on all Coast Guard vessels
• Increase in Rapid Response Unit
• 2 hovercrafts
• National security training academy—indoor and outdoor range
• William Bratton to do audit on TTPS
• 6 helicopters for National Operation Centre.
• Public relations training for TTPS
• Armoured vehicles
• Armoured personnel carriers
• National security framework policy
• Mayor Rudy Giuliani to provide training to improve law enforcement
• Shot spotter
• 2 50-metre coastal patrol vessels.