Archive for the ‘Crime’ Category
Thursday, June 25th, 2009 |
There are three things that worried me this week when it comes to the crime situation in Trinidad and Tobago. If you are anything like me it’s very difficult to be bothered by the incidents covered in the news anymore. Call it being desensitized if you will, but grizzly murders don’t shock me anymore. Surprisingly, it wasn’t even Tecia Henry’s murder that bothered me so much, heinous as it was.
The first thing was the statement made by Patrick Manning at the PNM convention following Tecia Henry’s murder saying of the murder, “I know all of you all know the facts. Ent you know? Don’t take it at face value, that is all I would say”. In the same story Manning expresses his sympathy for President George Maxwell Richards as he noted the difficulty President Richards is experiencing in appointing a new Integrity Commission, yet not one ounce of that sympathy finds its way towards the family of Tecia Henry. A letter to the editor of the Trinidad Express written by a Dr. Steve Smith says it best.:
After witnessing the Prime Minister’s “performance” specifically with respect to the death of Tecia Henry at the hands of some two-legged monster, I find myself not only uncontrollably outraged but truly afflicted by the frustration and helplessness of knowing that this mob ruler cannot be immediately and summarily fired for such monstrous and selfish irresponsibility!
Selfish because in unjustly slandering Tecia’s mother and raising doubts about her credibility, he has simultaneously dealt a mortal blow to our collective social conscience. And we continue to wonder how we have become so heartless and callous a people!
In true PNM style, he throws out a piece of mauvais commérage and mob talk, clearly intended to compromise the reputation of the child’s parents and in so doing, attempts not only to vindicate the child’s abominable murder, but to simultaneously and with an ostentation that truly rivals the sickening display by Pontius Pilate, to wash the blood off his own hands and those of his incompetent and equally culpable Cabinet.
Rather than offer sympathy, the malignant head of this callous organisation in one fell swoop has become judge, jury and executioner!
He has abused his authority and the information asymmetry that his job as Chairman of the National Security Council affords him, and for the sake of his lust for power, has sacrificed the demands of natural justice.
Dr Steve Smith
via e-mail
Nuff said.
The second thing that got to me was Martin Joseph’s disclosure that the evidence rooms of the Trinidad and Tobago police service have become a free-for-all for corrupt members of the TTPS. If they replaced the evidence room door with a revolving door I don’t think they could make the perversion of justice any more efficient. Just look at the grocery list:
- 22 foil packets possibly containing cocaine.
- One 9mm pistol and magazine
- Six Sig Sauer firearms, ammunition
- A 16-gauge shotgun
- An air rifle
- Six bread pans
- One gold Almera vehicle
Something makes me think that this list of missing items is only what they have found to be missing so far. The real list could be much longer. Not only will suspects go free because of missing evidence, but all of these seized items will find their way back on the nations streets.
The final thing that has bothered me, were the details surrounding the murder of Camille Daniel yesterday. For bandits to shoot a woman on the compound of the West End Police Station without any fear or apprehension tells me something. There are people in our country who wouldn’t litter on a lonely street in the middle of the night just because it is the wrong thing to do. And then there are people who would take a gun (sans silencer) and shoot a woman in the back – all on the compound of a police station of all places, and will go home and sleep the sleep of the just.
So when you mix callous politicians, corrupt police and hardened criminals, what do you get? And this is the reason why I’m worried. It seems as if we are in some deep trouble here. I think we’d better settle down and get comfortable because this has “long haul” written all over it. The way things are going now, things will get a lot worse before they get better.
Posted in Corruption, Crime, PNM, Politics | 13 Comments »
Monday, March 3rd, 2008 |
At about minutes to three on Sunday afternoon while farmer Ronald John was tending to his animals, he was witness to a gang of rabid Pompecks from the neighbouring farm who had raided his farm, gang raped and subsequently slaughtered three of his goats.
Farmer John recalls standing a ways off cleaning up the residue of a Petrotrin oil spill that killed 4 of is ducks including his lucky four-legged duck nicknamed ‘All Fours’. Not even an extra pair of legs could save All Four’s jack from being hanged.
Farmer John said that while washing down the oil spill with 2 gallons of leaded gasoline and a yard broom, the gang of rabid Pompecks tore down his brand new barbed wire fence and squared off with the goats grazing in the open. The goats put up a good fight but one by one they were eventually subdued and taken advantage off. The goats were able to run a short distance before collapsing into the oil spill.
Police who were called to the scene didn’t show up. It wasn’t their fault this time, though as they were on their way but were given a “bad drive”, which caused them to swerve into the westbound lane and veer into the path of an oncoming Ministry of National Security vehicle. Two of officers survived, but the third who was rushed to the Dr. Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, later succumbed to the irony of being hit by a National Security vehicle.
However, had the officers shown up, they would have reported that the goats had a criminal history dating back many years and had several matters before the courts. They would also have said that the goats were suspects in a series of robberies up and down the East/West Corridor. They would also have suspected that the attack was a revenge killing for last week’s murder of a Poodle/Doberman mix nicknamed “Chinee”.
National Security minister Martin Joseph has said that while there has been a decrease in the increase of goat rape there is still work to be done to halt the scourge. He also added that the Ministry of National Security is working assiduously to ensure that something like this does happen again so that the population will become numb to it and will quit grumbling about the crime rate already.
Closed Circuit cameras lining the streets to the farm were checked for any recordings, but it was discovered that although they were paid, they’ve never really worked. Luckily, however, the blimp was hovering overhead and recorded some video of the incident which is officially available via Bluetooth from all participating high school students.
Posted in Crime | 9 Comments »
Thursday, February 7th, 2008 |
Carnival was free of major acts of violence – Police Commissioner Trevor Paul.
Oh Trevor, Trevor, Trevor. What can I say for you man? Do your job, but don’t try to fool the people nah. It seems as if you are more concerned with shifting the goalposts and engaging in word games than with doing actual police work.
Mr. Paul would have us believe that the murder of Nicholas Sturge (brother of attorney Wayne Sturge) outside the Queens Park Oval following the Soca Monarch competition was either (a) not a major incident (b) not Carnival related (c) not violent or (d) all of the above.
So a murder and countless stabbings take place and and while Nicholas Sturge’s body is not yet cold, Commissioner Paul jumps up and proclaims, “See? I told you! What did I tell you?”
Granted it’s a tribute to the police that there weren’t more murders and stabbings, but the fact remains that there was at least one murder which the police seem intent on downplaying. I have to wonder then, who exactly are they trying to fool? Surely murder is a major violent act. Additionally how many stabbings does it take before the whole lot of them are considered major?
But the truth is that Way Sturge’s murder was all of the above. And if it weren’t enough that we have to bear with the violence, we are still made to listen to the utterances of a defeated Police Commissioner still going out of his way to convince us that he is relevant.
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Now playing: America – Tin Man
via FoxyTunes
Posted in Carnival, Crime, The Police | 10 Comments »
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 |
I‘m telling you this crime situation has turned into a comedy of errors. First (If we can call it first) 388 people were murdered last year. Next Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj and Jack Warner get together to hire a team of private security guards to protect the people of Macaulay village who have been plagued by criminals. Then the people who came out in such hoards to denounce the “vigilantism” has the rest of us asking, do these people have any idea what vigilantism actually is?
Speaking for myself, I see nothing wrong with the measures undertaken my Warner and Maharaj. If the people of Macaulay village are under siege then by all means they are to have security. I’m jealous of them as I assume all other non-gated communities around Trinbago are. Yet, we do understand that private security officers don’t have all the same powers a police officer has. They don’t have the power to kick a handcuffed suspect and they probably can’t laugh at an abused husband – I mean these guys could get fired for something like that. Other than that they are more or less just like our regular cops but with vehicles.
But vigilantism? Brigid Anisette George and her cohorts seem intent on disagreeing for the the sake of disagreeing. Saving face is what we used to call it but I’m not sure how much face you can save after presiding over a record murder rate. However while the critics were yet in mid sentence, the star of the show, the Prime Minister himself Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning spits in their faces and goes and hires private security to replace most of the Special Branch officers that used to guard him. What a move!
Now I supported commissioner Trevor Paul against people who were criticizing him for going to an Old Year Night fete with his wife. My position was this: his going to a Old Year’s Night fete wasn’t going affect the crime situation for better or for worse. If he wants to go, then let him go. Plus the man has free time to use as he chooses. Is he not allowed to have a social life because of the crime situation? It just isn’t an issue with me. But then with a master stroke, Commissioner Paul launches Operation “No Sports”. Finally deciding he’d had enough with all those officer/athletes, Commissioner Paul decides that he’s going to reel in the entire offending lot of them. Look at them, with their time management skills, fit bodies, alert minds, leadership and teamwork skills and goal setting abilities – a pretty revolting group if you ask me. No wonder the police commissioner was sick of them; they were dragging the Police Service of Trinidad and Tobago into good repute. He had to reel them in. Athlete/officers operate as a rogue group within the TTPS. Sooner or later they are bound to infect the whole lot. Sooner or later their endorphin highs were going to get someone saved out there. Commissioner Paul wasn’t going to let that happen – not on his watch. I say keep the TTPS pure.
Lastly, did I hear last night on the news that Trevor Paul said that he was willing to work with the private security guards that Ramesh and Jack hired? This, even after he called the move to hire private security inept? Hmmm. Sounds like foot-in-mouth to me.
Posted in Crime, The Police | 17 Comments »
Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 |
We’re all going to die sometime. – Independent Senator Dana Setahal
– The reason, she says, why witness should stop fussing about the probability of being killed and why we should all come forward to give testimony.
Nice to know she still cares.
Posted in Crime | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 11th, 2007 |
The top brass of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service held their weekly media briefing session at Police Headquarters and released some interesting stats on car thefts in T&T. For one, car thefts are up almost 20% from last year. And secondly, the top pick of car thieves nationwide appears to be Nissan (B11, B12, B13…actually the whole range of B vitamins) with a 47% approval rating beating Mitsubishi into second place with 9% and Mazda and Toyota into third and forth with 7% and 11% respectively.
Explaining the motive behind the rise in auto thefts, Acting ASP Glenn Hackett uttered this gem: “…it [is] cheaper to steal the vehicles for parts rather than to import them“. Officer, are you alleging that some people in this world prefer stealing to buying because of…..cost? So what you’re saying is that getting something for free costs LESS than paying? Scandalous!
Thank you Captain Obvious for your valuable insight. Nothing gets past our Police Service anymore.
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| The Trinidad & Tobago Police Service’s new logo |
Meanwhile the Police Service of Trinidad and Tobago has taken care of a problem that has been plaguing them for years. Just when tempers were about to boil over and just before people took to the streets with placards and pitchforks, the TTPS finally got around to changing their logo and their slogan. At last. As far as I am concerned the new logo looks like a cross between Poison and Vegas Showgirl costumes. Is that a feather boa?
The new slogan (the image for which I have so graciously borrowed from The Newsday), is “To Protect and Serve with Pride”. Is the problem with the TTPS really due to a lack of pride or is there way too much of it? How about serving with humility instead? Maybe it’s just the TTPS finally owning up to their bad ways.
Nalis gives a nice little piece of history recounting how the TTPS began using the Star of David as its official symbol, so I’am glad that it wasn’t totally discarded, but I’m not a fan of the new symbol which I will place just above London 2012 Olympics logo (don’t stare at it too long by the way or you’ll get a seizure and then die…at least that’s what I heard). It kind of reminds me of a headless Frosty the Snowman.
By the way I never realized that the logo and the slogan of the TTPS was such a contentious issue among us Trinbagonians that the TTPS had to take such proactive steps to change it. To date I have not heard of a single protest demonstration against the old logo. Neither have I heard of a single protest demonstration against the old slogan.
What I do hear is opposition to police brutality and inaction, and opposition to the hostility of our officers. And while I think it’s great that the TTPS is adopting a transformation initiative drive, the logo and the slogan are merely cosmetic.
While I am on the topic of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, oh gosh, ACP Reyes, agreement of subject and verb brother, subject and verb. And while I am on the topic of subject and verb, Samuel McKnight from CNC3 oh gosh bredda, honestly.
Posted in Crime, The Police | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, March 6th, 2007 |
‘Tis so sad to make familiar mistakes.
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| Harry Mungalsingh (Express Photo) |
He was wrong. He said he was caught up in the heat of the moment (although he was reading from a script at the time) He’s sorry, however. But he was fired (as he should have been). Kudos to the UNC for acting quickly and decisively.
But what got me, is how could a man be so emboldened (to use Dubya’s word) to say what he did? Do people really think and talk like this? Was this a bad joke that Mungalsigh mistook for a good idea.
Although I’m not entirely sure about the topic, this reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend of mine a while back. I think he was talking to me about Hinduism and was trying to illustrate to me some Hindu philosophy or something like that. Anyway, he was telling me about a question he had asked his pundit about crime and the answer his pundit gave. The question was, “Since people who commit crime seem to come from certain areas, would it be ethical to seal of their communities and prevent them from mixing with the rest of us?”
“No,” the pundit says, “you can’t do that because blah, blah, blah.”
After he related the pundit’s answer, he smiled gleefully as though he had laid a golden egg right there in front of me.
The reason I use the “blah, blah, blah there is not to disrespect the pundit or his answer, I think I remember it being right and fitting, but to be honest I can’t really remember it because I was still stuck on the question. I sat there thinking, “you’ve had thoughts about walling-off communities? Who are you? Have I really known you for 20 years?”
And so when it comes to Mungalsing, it’s the thought that counts. While the question is disturbing in itself, it’s Mungalsingh’s thoughts I’m troubled by. Who else thinks like this?
Read Atillah Springer’s thoughts on the matter.
Posted in Crime, Personal Story, Race, Social Issues, UNC | 6 Comments »
Thursday, February 8th, 2007 |
I hate to be the one to break it to you, but if your “good boy” son is hanging out with known gang leaders and men who have (or have had) serious matters before the courts, he’s not a good boy – by any stretch of the imagination. By it’s very definition, good boys don’t hang out with bad boys.
I’m sorry if I’ve caused you any pain.
Posted in Crime | 4 Comments »
Monday, February 5th, 2007 |
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| Trevor Paul |
Trevor Paul has put his foot down once and for all. Taking a break from all those bold face protesters, and the dangerous men with the printerless fliers, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service has turned its focus to protecting the Carnival revellers and attendees.
“No one will spoil our mas,” said he. “Let me warn those with agendas which would counter the good order…You will not be allowed to disrupt those who are about their lawful business either playing mas, or looking at mas.”
He added that citizens can be sure that, “(the police) will be watching their backs.”
“Our operations will be guided by intelligence and we know where we should be and when,” said Paul.
Intelligence – now there’s a word that gets abused.
And don’t get me wrong, it’s great that the carnival attendees are going to be protected from bandits and rapists, but since I’m not going to take part in any of the festivities, and since I’m not going as a spectator, where does that leave me? Somehow it looks like crimewise, I have the same crappy chances during the Carnival season as I did going into it.
But hold on. Since there is going to be a large concentration of officers on the streets during Carnival Monday and Tuesday, does that mean that officers are going to be pulled away from other seemingly “low risk” areas only to be crammed in Port of Spain and environs.
What about the vehicle situation? Are vehicles going to be pulled away from the same low risk areas to be utilised in high risk ones?
So how safe am I, a regular citizen and non-Carnival event attendee? Are the police going to be able to break away from their two busy days of gaping guarding to attend to my needs as they might arise?
Surely, the Trinidad and Tobago police service hasn’t yet learned how to pat its head and rub its tummy at the same time?
It looks like my chances are worse than I previously thought. I may have to play mas just to stay safe.
Posted in Carnival, Crime, Culture | 7 Comments »
Thursday, February 1st, 2007 |
I‘m almost as sad as I am bewildered at the murders of Clive and Denise Commissiong. Who is it that does these kinds of things? I’ve never met anyone before who I thought could bludgeon a couple of old age pensioners to death with a crowbar – at least not in my waking hours.
So who does these kinds of things? What do they look like, what do they eat? Who are their parents and grandparents? Do they have brothers and sisters?
Who can look a feeble, wrinkled couple in their eyes then strike them down with a crowbar?
Do I eat next to them in the fast food outlet? Do I sit next to them in the Maxi? Do I walk past them on the streets? How do I know it’s them?
Posted in Crime | 6 Comments »
