Archive for the ‘The Police’ Category
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 | 16 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 | 3 Comments »
