Category Archives: Security

Complaints, Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, Police, Security, Violence

Rid the police of roughnecks

14 Comments

By Raffique Shah
March 10, 2012

Raffique ShahTHE murder rate ticks along, one-a-day, like some health supplement or prescription drug, with the arrests rate lagging behind the body count, as has always been the case. Robberies and burglaries, many of them as brazen as ever, CCTV recordings notwithstanding, gallop at an alarming pace. Acts of violence, threats that could turn crimson (as in blood), and entire communities cowed by gun-toting bullies, now a national pastime, go mostly unreported, except, perhaps, to Ian Alleyne and Crime Watch.
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Culture, Entertainment, General T&T, Music, Security

Total disrepect

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By Raffique Shah
February 12, 2012

Raffique ShahI HAVE been nursing a not-so-quiet anger since last Sunday’s Panorama Semi-finals, and no, it has nothing to do with Despers being omitted from the finals, although I feel “a how” about that. I have asked fellow pan-fans, many of whom, like me, no longer make the pilgrimage to the Savannah, but who, nevertheless, do not miss a note, “How could they show total disrespect to pan, to the thousands who labour in panyards to produce one of the world’s biggest musical extravaganzas?”
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, People's Partnership, Politics, Protest, Security

Plot was not real

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Cops find no evidence to support plan to kill PM, Moonilal, AG, Sharma

By Akile Simon
January 07, 2012 – trinidadexpress.com

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-BissessarTHE police investigation into allegations that 17 men were part of an alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and three Cabinet Ministers has been completed with no evidence to suggest the allegations were true.
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corruption, Drug Trade, General T&T, Money Laundering, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, Security

Bridging the credibility gap

By Derren Joseph
December 13, 2011

Derren JosephTransparency International’s 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranks Trinidad and Tobago in position 91 out of 183 countries–falling from a 2010 rank of 73. Remember this is a temperature check of how corrupt we perceive our own public sector to be. So if you are a statistician; walk away–it is not a rigorous quantitative research methodology. If you are a politician, listen-up, as perception drives voting patterns. On one hand, it can be argued that this cannot be completely blamed on the present administration because it reflects a consistent slide from 2001 when we were ranked at 31.
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Court, Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, Media, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, Racism Watch, Security, Violence

Sandy Must Stay!

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 04, 2011

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI hate to be on Keith Rowley’s case but Rowley (and by extension the PNM) is really missing the pulse of the people and, in the process, failing to take the lead politically in the society. A serious party must be the elevated consciousness of a people. The leadership of the PNM has not shown such leadership in this crisis. We are following rather than leading the masses and that is not good for the party. It speaks volumes about Rowley’s leadership abilities.
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Africa, Court, Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, People's Partnership, PNM, Police, Politics, Security

The CJ’s Wisdom

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 20, 2011

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeSooner or later it had to happen. Amidst the chaos and head-in-the-sand posture, a mature voice had to rise up and address the implications of the state of emergency (SOE) that was declared by the government. While so many of my fellow citizens, buoyed by the apparent calm of the society welcomed the suspension of many of our civil liberties, it took a brave voice to remind us that a constitution cannot suspend itself and that the declaration of a SOE does not automatically abrogate all of our right as citizens.
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Court, Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, Media, People's Partnership, Police, Politics, Security, Violence

DPP tells ‘office holders’ back off

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By Anika Gumbs-Sandiford
September 18, 2011 – guardian.co.tt

Director of Public Prosecutions Roger GaspardBack off! This is the strong message being sent by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard to “office holders” regarding the arrest of citizens under the state of emergency. Warning that he would “continue to jealously guard his office at all cost,” Gaspard, in an exclusive interview with Sunday Guardian, said his office would continue to act independently. On the Attorney General’s decision to retain a battery of attorneys to assist with the prosecution of matters under the state of emergency, Gaspard said: “No other office holder would be allowed to choose any attorney for me for the prosecution of any matter; that choice remains exclusively mine.” On the issue of the perception of a war between the AG and the DPP, Gaspard said: “I know of no war between the AG and myself. There are no winners in war. I humbly prefer simply to continue to do my work soberly so as to protect and advance the public’s interest.”
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Court, Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, Media, People's Partnership, Police, Politics, Security, Violence

DPP’s Decision

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newsday.co.tt
September 18, 2011

Nelson Street robbery in broad daylight!To our knowledge, none of the actors involved in criminal activity caught on the CCTV footage provided by the state and published this week by this newspaper had active matters before the courts. Quite the contrary. It was our belief that some of the individuals who appeared on the screens may have been men from Nelson Street who were freed of the charge that they were gang members after the DPP advised the Chief Magistrate that the State had insufficient evidence against them. Once there is no matter before the court, we are free to publish the footage, the only risk being that of defamation, a matter for the civil, not criminal courts and thus no concern of the DPP.
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Caribbean, Crime in T&T, Drug Trade, General T&T, Jamaica, Law, Police, Security

Marijuana in the chicken: Drug bust at Point Lisas

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September 17, 2011
guardian.co.tt

MarijuanaAfter hours of continuous searching at the Port of Point Lisas, police seized yet another 40-foot container of high grade Arizona marijuana on Thursday evening. Customs and Excise officers said the haul had a street value of $7.4 million. But in a news release late yesterday the Police Service Public Affairs Unit quoted the street value as $30 million. The release said the value had been confirmed by an “expert in the field of narcotics.” But Customs communications manager, Alicia Charles, said yesterday Customs and Excise worked out the figure by calculating a kilo of marijuana to be approximately $8,000. She said the officers found 38 bags of marijuana weighing more than 921 kilos.
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Africa, Court, Crime in T&T, Culture, General T&T, India, Law, People's Partnership, Police, Politics, Race and Identity, Racism Watch, Security, Violence

Fulfilling Prophecy

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 14, 2011

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeWilliam Hardin Burnley was the biggest slave holder in Trinidad and Tobago. In 1813 Sir Ralph Woodford arrived in the island as the governor. One of his first tasks was to secure sufficient laborers for the island, Trinidad being notorious for not having sufficient laborers to till its soil. One year after he arrived he asked each member of his Board of Council to come up with suggestions to induce laborers to settle in the country.
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