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T&T now on crime Red Alert

 
sgtdjones 2019-02-13 18:42:03 

T&T now on crime Red Alert

Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith has with immediate effect, raised the policing alert from ‘Amber’ to ‘Red’, as a result of ongoing gang activities and homicides.

In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, Commissioner Griffith said that law abiding citizens may experience some inconvenience due to these intensified operations, however, it is necessary to deal with criminal activity and to maintain law and order across the country.

The Commissioner will host a media briefing tomorrow, at 10a.m. at the Police Administration Building, Port of Spain, to update the nation on the status of the policing operations.

Persons with information pertaining to serious crimes, especially gang activities are asked to text information to the Commissioner’s hotline 482GARY (4279).


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The Government noted they don't believe in an SOE, it gives the Criminals free reign.

 
sgtdjones 2019-02-13 18:45:49 

Young: I’m not afraid of criminals
'No one is above the law'

No one is above the law.

This was the stance taken by Minister of National Security Stuart Young took during a press conference at his ministry on Abercromby Street, Port of Spain, yesterday.

Young, responding to talk that the government was protecting certain criminal elements, told reporters neither he, the ministry nor the government was afraid of any criminal, and the public should not be either.

“This administration is not prepared to protect anyone (criminal). I have seen it suggested that we are afraid of certain elements in society.

"I can give you the assurance without fear of contradiction, having had conversations with the chairman of the National Security Council, and on behalf of the National Security Council chairman and myself, we are not intimidated or afraid of anyone. I certainly am not afraid of any criminal in TT. As I told the law enforcement agencies and our men and women in the defence force and security services, I support them fully.” Young said.

“Do not be afraid of anyone. No one is above the law. No one (criminals) will be protected under my watch. Whoever engages in criminal activity must feel the full brunt of the law against them.”

While encouraging the public to support the protective services, and to show the police respect while theydo their job, Young also pointed out that police need to be careful and courteous.


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How long has he been a minister of everything?
So he now sees crime and murders as a problem?

What a useless individual.

twisted

 
sgtdjones 2019-02-13 20:57:23 

Griffith leads police exercises in Beetham, Laventille

IN response to a recent spike in gang violence and homicides in the Port of Spain Division, which included a soldier being shot in Laventille on Tuesday night, officers of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) yesterday swooped down on the Beetham and Laventille communities.

The police exercises began around 10 a.m. and were said to be ongoing up to last night.

They were led by Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith and included the Special ­Operations Response Team (SORT), as well as officers from the Port of Spain Division led by ACP Forde, Snr Supt Daniel and W-Snr Supt Hodge-Griffith.


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Neglected areas by the PNM for over 5 decades.



sad sad

 
sgtdjones 2019-02-13 21:00:53 

Speak out against crime

People in Trinidad and Tobago have a social responsibility to help in the crime fight by speaking out and confronting bad behaviour, says Minister in the Office of the Attorney General, Fitzgerald Hinds.

“The law-abiding, right-thinking people, including parents, teachers, clergy and the media, have to deal directly and confront bad behaviour at its source rather than focus on the peripheral issues after the bad behaviour that very often costs us lives, rape and robbery,” he said.

Speaking to the Express by phone on Tuesday, Hinds said people are afraid to come forward with information for good reason as guns are lethal as he noted that this fear has become the norm in society where people are “comfortable” with the bad behaviour taking place.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-14 09:35:33 

They found love, death found them

A Williamsville couple who fought the odds to be together, after finding love in mid-life, were shot dead in the humble home they shared on Corpus Christi day in May 2018.

But what was the motive behind the killing?

Police said nothing was taken from the home of Dipchand Heeralal and his companion, Radha Baldeo. Both were 53.

They were found dead in the living room, shot multiple times about their bodies.

The small wooden house is located down a winding dirt track leading into a parcel of agricultural land. Heeralal had secured his Caroni (1975) Ltd Voluntary Separation of Employment Package (VSEP).

Investigators believe the couple knew their killer as only someone with knowledge of the surroundings would be able to enter their locked house and carry out their execution.

The house, surrounded by overgrown bushes, had no electricity supply.


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sad sad

 
sgtdjones 2019-02-14 09:54:05 

Griffith: A few punks acting up

“A few punks who re­fer to them­selves as gang lead­ers have been act­ing up and are in­stru­men­tal in over 12 homi­cides re­cent­ly,” Com­mis­sion­er Gary Grif­fith told Guardian Me­dia yes­ter­day evening, hours af­ter spear­head­ing an op­er­a­tion in Port-of-Spain which round­ed up sev­er­al peo­ple, among them sus­pect­ed gang lead­ers.

Po­lice be­lieve two sus­pect­ed gang lead­ers de­tained yes­ter­day might have been re­spon­si­ble for on­go­ing gang ac­tiv­i­ties and homi­cides in the Port-of-Spain area.

Mak­ing di­rect ref­er­ence to a re­lease in which a “Red Alert” state of se­cu­ri­ty was an­nounced, Grif­fith said, “So the alert state is to turn up the heat on these char­ac­ters and their blind min­ions who fool­ish­ly com­mit a se­ri­ous crime whilst their boss hides in the sanc­tu­ary of their home and put their lives at risk. There is no more “beef­ing up se­cu­ri­ty,” TTPS does not work in an abat­toir.”

Asked to clar­i­fy what “Red Alert” sta­tus meant, Grif­fith said, “The re­lease is clear. An alert state is used world­wide and in­ten­si­fies or de­creas­es based on the threat and pro­vides the law en­force­ment of­fi­cers to as­cer­tain how much more, or less law en­force­ment is re­quired.”


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sgtdjones 2019-02-14 11:59:53 

'Alyuh too wicked' police protesters warned of arrest by Gary

COMMISSIONER of Police Gary Griffith intends to dealing with the trouble makers who show up after police make arrests in their community.

Griffith said that that he will be waiting on protestors who try to hamper police operations.

“No one in an area could feel that they are so big and bad that if we arrest any gang leader and you feel you have authority. We will be walking in with several vans known as paddy wagons and anyone who breaks the law..if they are in love with their gang leaders they will accompany them, they will join them”, warned Griffith.

The CoP issued the warning at Thursday’s media briefing held at Police Administration Building in Port of Spain.

“Nobody has the authority to block roads, no one had the authority to take the law into their own hands. Everything is intelligence driven and the operations will be based on that. It is not a case of us trying to deliberately intimidate, profile, or harass anyone target any individual based. We are looking at individuals who want to use their ‘troops’ to work above the law”, he said.

Griffith also said that he had received more death threats in recent months than the number of test victories by the West indies in the past ten years.

The country was placed on a policing red alert with immediate effect on Wednesday because of gang warfare and murders.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-14 16:27:37 

PoS crime lord arrested

Hours after Police Commissioner Gary Griffith warned criminals, saying he was prepared for anything they could dish out, a man described as a high-priority suspect in several gang-related killings was arrested.

Senior police confirmed they visited the home of a man identified as a person of interest in several matters this afternoon to arrest him, but he was not at home.

At about 3.23, members of the Inter-Agency Task Force arrested the 34-year-old man in Beetham Gardens, and he is currently being questioned by police at an undisclosed location.

Earlier today at a press conference after yesterday's raids in the Beetham and Laventille, Griffith issued a stern warning to criminals that he was undaunted by their threats and said the police were prepared to defend themselves and the public against any aggression.

"No gang or institution in this country is more powerful than the TT Police Service. We will do what is required.

I wish to advise the public and let the media be aware, that if any of them (criminals) put God past their thoughts this time around I am waiting on them. We will be going in with several vans and if they are so in love with their gang leaders, they will be going in with them."

Griffith said the police were prepared to face any threats, and he extended support to police from various units who would be continuing anti-crime patrols for the rest of the week.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-14 21:22:09 

3 gang leaders in custody
27 arrested in police push-back

Police Commissioner Gary Griffith, centre, and members of the Special Operations Response Team at Phase Five, Beetham Gardens during Wednesday exercise.

Photo courtesy the TTPS

POLICE have held three men they say are gang leaders. The third man, who police said has been associated with gangs in the Beetham Gardens community, was held around 3 p.m. yesterday by officers of the Port of Spain Division under the supervision of Assistant Commissioner of Police Irvin Hackshaw.

The Express was told the man was held on a warrant, allegedly in relation to shooting offences. Earlier yesterday, police confirmed that Wednesday’s “push-back” police exercises which took place throughout the nine policing divisions of Trinidad and Tobago had resulted in the arrest of 27 persons, including at least two alleged gang leaders.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-15 09:33:53 

New plot uncovered to kill Griffith

A new plot has been un­cov­ered to as­sas­si­nate Com­mis­sion­er of Po­lice Gary Grif­fith by two in­car­cer­at­ed gang lead­ers and one of their as­so­ciates.

In­tel­li­gence sources say the con­tract to kill was con­nect­ed to the hu­man traf­fick­ing bust which oc­curred last Wednes­day.

The in­for­ma­tion is com­piled in a con­fi­den­tial re­port pre­pared by the Spe­cial Op­er­a­tions Re­sponse Team on Feb­ru­ary 8.

A copy of the re­port which has been ob­tained by Guardian Me­dia names of the ma­jor play­ers in the plot and their plan to take out the Com­mis­sion­er with help of shoot­ers based in the Laven­tille area.

One high-rank­ing in­tel­li­gence source told Guardian Me­dia they are cer­tain the threat is linked to the hu­man traf­fick­ing bust that took place on Feb­ru­ary 6, in which 19 young Span­ish-speak­ing girls were res­cued in West Trinidad and at a Chi­nese restau­rant on Ari­api­ta Av­enue.

Some 18 sus­pects were ar­rest­ed and re­main in cus­tody as po­lice con­tin­ue to piece to­geth­er this in­tri­cate crim­i­nal net­work.

Mere hours af­ter the sex traf­fick­ing bust, a con­fi­den­tial in­for­mant reached out to the mem­bers of SORT spilling the beans about the plot and why the Com­mis­sion­er was be­ing tar­get­ed.

“Seems based on our in­for­ma­tion these per­sons reached out to these gang lead­ers in jail to en­sure that the job to pass out the Com­mis­sion­er was done,” said a high-rank­ing in­tel­li­gence source.

An­oth­er re­li­able source said, “Be­cause we in­ter­rupt­ed their crim­i­nal en­ter­prise and they now want to si­lence the Com­mis­sion­er. We’re talk­ing about pow­er­ful and af­flu­ent peo­ple here,” he said.

The in­for­ma­tion, the re­port stat­ed, was ex­tract­ed from a con­fi­den­tial in­for­mant with in­ti­mate de­tails about the plot and was ti­tled “Spe­cial re­port: plot to as­sas­si­nate the Com­mis­sion­er of Po­lice Grade C,2”.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-15 16:10:03 

Gangster: Peace talk sounds ‘trappy’

Dis­cus­sions of ri­val gangs com­ing to­geth­er to sign a peace pact may be agreed up­on soon.

Should this peace or­der be signed, es­pe­cial­ly be­tween the Mus­lims and the Ras­ta City gangs, there is ex­pect­ed to be a no­tice­able de­cline in gang-re­lat­ed ac­tiv­i­ties in­clud­ing gun vi­o­lence and homi­cides.

With­in a 72-hour win­dow from Wednes­day to yes­ter­day 28, peo­ple were de­tained by the po­lice in­clud­ing sev­er­al re­put­ed gang lead­ers.

The lat­est, ac­cord­ing to po­lice, was a per­son of in­ter­est from Beetham Gar­dens, who was tak­en in for ques­tion­ing in re­la­tion to a shoot­ing in­ci­dent.

This de­ten­tion oc­curred hours af­ter Com­mis­sion­er of Po­lice Gary Grif­fith and his en­tourage of elite of­fi­cers from the Spe­cial Op­er­a­tions Re­sponse Team and Guard and Emer­gency swooped down on a house at Phase 5 Beetham Gar­dens where they con­duct­ed a three-hour ev­i­dence-led op­er­a­tion.

Guardian Me­dia un­der­stands that all per­sons of in­ter­est are still in po­lice cus­tody and there are al­leged talks on­go­ing with re­spect to agree­ing to a peace deal.

A rel­a­tive of a sus­pect­ed gang leader from Laven­tille, who wished not to be iden­ti­fied, said all their ef­forts to lo­cate her rel­a­tive up to press time proved fu­tile as they are not be­ing giv­en any con­fir­ma­tion as to where the po­lice have him.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-15 16:15:48 

The reputed head of Rasta City gang held

The re­put­ed head of the Ras­ta City gang from the Beetham com­mu­ni­ty has been tak­en in­to cus­tody by po­lice in an on­go­ing an­ti-gang op­er­a­tion which be­gan on Wednes­day.

He was held just be­fore 3pm to­day.

This is the third re­put­ed gang leader held in the last cou­ple days.

We will have more on this lat­er.


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Narper 2019-02-15 18:19:40 


258 arrested in Police Red Alert strike back

Police have arrested over 258 persons in connection with various offences including gang activity, shootings, outstanding warrants and gun and narcotic possession.

These exercises have resulted in the following:

• Person Arrested: 258

• Warrants Executed:187

• Tickets Issued: 836

• Stop and Searches: 2604

• Patrols: 2553

• Firearms and Ammunitions Seized: 9 Firearms and 93 rounds

• Narcotics Seized: Marijuana 2422.91 grammes and Cocaine 22.4 grammes



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sgtdjones 2019-02-15 20:52:23 

Boombay challenges detention

At­tor­neys rep­re­sent­ing at least one Laven­tille de­tainees were forced to send in a re­quest to the Port-of-Spain Mag­is­trates’ Court yes­ter­day re­quest­ing Po­lice Com­mis­sion­er Gary Grif­fith to dis­close the rea­son for de­ten­tion and where­abouts of their client.

This move by rep­re­sent­ing at­tor­neys came hours af­ter sev­en more peo­ple of in­ter­est, two of which are sus­pect­ed gang lead­ers, were de­tained by po­lice of­fi­cers dur­ing an in­tel­li­gence and ev­i­dence-led op­er­a­tions yes­ter­day morn­ing.

Six of them are said to be from Sea Lots and one from Beetham Gar­dens.

Ac­cord­ing to po­lice sources, the sus­pects in cus­tody now to­tals 33. Most of them are be­ing ques­tioned in con­nec­tion with shoot­ing in­ci­dents.

One of the men from Sea Lots, a well-known busi­ness­man, is rep­re­sent­ed by three at­tor­neys, who, Guardian Me­dia un­der­stands is at­tempt­ing to as­cer­tain spe­cif­ic in­for­ma­tion from the po­lice, in­clud­ing his where­abouts as well.

The ap­pli­ca­tion was filed yes­ter­day by the at­tor­neys of An­tho­ny “Boom­bay” Boney be­fore High Court Judge Eleanor Don­ald­son-Hon­ey­well.

It was or­dered that Grif­fith is to com­plete all in­ter­views with Boney on or be­fore 10 am to­day and a re­turn to the Writ of Habeas Cor­pus is to be lodged with the Reg­is­trar of the Supreme Court by 10 am al­so to­day, fail­ing which Boney is to be re­leased. Boney is be­ing rep­re­sent­ed by at­tor­ney Fay­ola Sandy and Coreen Find­ley.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-15 20:55:57 

Burkie, Dole, Spanish detained

Three res­i­dents from the Sealots and Beetham com­mu­ni­ties who go by the nick­names 'Burkie', 'Dole' and 'Span­ish', have been tak­en in by po­lice in op­er­a­tions this morn­ing.

The op­er­a­tions are part of the on­go­ing Red Alert ac­tiv­i­ty tak­ing place by the po­lice.

The men are as­sist­ing the po­lice in their in­vest­ga­tions in­to re­cent crime in the area.

We will have fur­ther in­for­ma­tion on this lat­er.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-16 09:49:29 

Update: Suspected gang leader walks free, no charges filed against him

16 FEBRUARY 2019 CRIME

Update: One of the suspected gang leaders, detained earlier this week in a series of police operations was released from police custody just after 9 am on Saturday.

The police had been given until 10 am on Saturday to complete their investigations into the man they claimed is a gang leader.

This is the result of a writ of habeas corpus which was filed by the Laventille man’s attorneys on Friday at the Port of Spain Assizes.

The attorneys were seeking to have their clients released as the limit prescribed under the Anti-Gang Act had been achieved, and no charges had been laid, nor had any detention orders be presented to their client.

Other writs, for three other alleged gang leaders, are expected to be filed at the High Court today.

More on this as it becomes available


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sgtdjones 2019-02-16 14:23:26 

Tobago...Island Lockdown


Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith says there are plans to use technology to improve security in Tobago.

At the launch of I Support Our Service in Tobago, at the Apex Bar and Grill, Bon Accord yesterday Griffith said he recognises crime against tourists is a major issue there, and this will be a focus point.

“What we are doing is looking at the threats, looking at what would cause an individual to target tourists and by doing that what could be done to provide a deterrent. There are a number of things we are already aware of that would be done. My focus is also is to have Tobago remain as locked down as possible and to improve on it.”

He says he is ready to meet with all the island’s stakeholders, both private and the Tobago House of Assembly, next week, and will be working towards preventing the migration of criminals to Tobago.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-17 11:03:22 

Burkie, son and ‘Dole’ released

THREE more men who police alleged are gang leaders were released shortly after 9 am from custody after a writ of habeas corpus was filed on their behalf.

Cedric “Burkie” Burke, of Sea Lots, his son Revaldo Burke, and Akani “Dole” Adams, also from Sea Lots,

were released from the Barataria and San Juan police stations just after 9 am, attorney Richard Clarke-Wills who represents the men confirmed a short while ago.

Clarke-Wills filed a writ of habeas corpus late on Saturday seeking the release of the Burkes, Ancil “Chemist” Villafana and Adams. It was heard by Justice Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell and the writs were served on the Commissioner of Police late Saturday night.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-17 18:53:20 

SORT hits La Romaine hard, 20 arrested


The Special Operations Response Unit (SORT) used drone technology in the arrest of 20 persons and the seizure of firearms and quantities of ammunition and narcotics and a police jacket in the Southern Division.


The exercise, conducted in the La Romaine district, on Sunday also included officers of the Southern Division and Central Division Task Forces and the Canine branch.


Search warrants were executed in the district, which resulted in one Uzi submachine gun, three pistols, 74 rounds of 9mm ammunition, three kilogrammes of marijuana, eight grammes of cocaine and one blue police operations jacket with police patches being discovered.

Photo 3- Drugs seized in La Romaine on 17.02.19.jpeg
Of those held, 11 are expected to be charged with possession of firearms and possession of narcotics.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-17 18:55:58 

Gary warns ‘community leaders’: No more gangster culture


FOLLOWING the release of “community leader” Anton “Boombay” Boney from ­police custody yesterday morning, Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith warned so-called community leaders to cease from ­encouraging “gangster culture” in the areas in which they live.

And he encouraged people in hotspots to forego fighting for turf, and instead fight on the turf in a football tournament he titled the “Commissioner’s Cup”.


Boney was among several “persons of ­interest” detained after the police “­push-back” exercise in Laventille, Beetham Gardens and Sea Lots last week, but he was released after his lawyer filed a writ in the High Court, requesting the police give ­reasons for his arrest.


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Narper 2019-02-17 19:19:50 

SORT hits La Romaine hard, 20 arrested

The Special Operations Response Unit (SORT) used drone technology in the arrest of 20 persons and the seizure of firearms and quantities of ammunition and narcotics and a police jacket in the Southern Division.

Photo 4- Police Operations Jacket found in La Romaine on 17.02.19.jpeg
The exercise, conducted in the La Romaine district, on Sunday also included officers of the Southern Division and Central Division Task Forces and the Canine branch


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sgtdjones 2019-02-17 19:45:20 

In reply to Narper

Narps

I know that area well. My family had 15 acres near mosquito creek for the highway the Government took approx 10 acres
away.

Near the Godineau Bridge, the sea and river currents were always deadly.

Great area to fish, catch crabs and oysters.

Memories of watching the oil tankers come into Pointe a Pierre Refinery.

cool cool

 
BeatDball 2019-02-18 09:37:31 

Socishitists dont care about law enforcement. They just dont care. They just want political power. Full stop. But, alyuh blind. Look here in the US major cities where Demoncraps have been in charge for decades...what do you see? Crime, litter, graffiti, road crashes galore, etc. Just chaos. These people just want power; be at the helm & preach class envy. Always talking about, 'we will give you this, we will give you that; free this, free that.' What was NYC prior to Rudy Guiliani? Same in the Windies when PNC, PNM & PNP in power. They create booracracy upon booracracy - nobloody is held accountable; nothing gets done; just talk & talk. Look man, I'm vexed. Gwallang alyuh mcs. Lemme go & google Rwanda news & see how honorable Paul Kagame is kicking backsides - modernity, civility, cleanest capital city in all of Africa (54 countries); low crime rates, massive push for literacy (cant wait when Rwandans' 8th graders will be amongst the 8th graders of Shanghai, Singapore, South Korea, etc on that international Reading Comprehension Exam & Mathematics); empowering women to the maximum (most women in parliament than any other country on the planet), making it easy like, tea & water to start up businesses - matter of hours...foreign investors are galloping their arses off to get to Rwanda. Foreign actors & celebrities, even they want piece of that country. Alyuh know what Ellen Degenerate has done? Even the other day, some actress, Patricia Heaton is getting piece of the action. Former English cricket captains are volunteering their skills to enhance the burgeoning cricket. Heheheh; I deading wid laff. Keep singing the socishitist mantra alyuh mcs.

confused razz cry evil rolleyes

 
sgtdjones 2019-02-18 20:39:02 

CoP defends blasting media: It’s constructive criticism

Police Commissioner Gary Griffith this afternoon stood by earlier remarks criticising media houses for "biased" coverage. He said it was intended as constructive criticism and to raise the standard of reporting in TT.

Newsday spoke with Griffith. who said the reports from some media houses showed favouritism towards criminals.

"I want the media to see it as constructive criticism. If you see when we did the operation on the Beetham last Thursday, the only people this media house could get to interview were two fellas at the corner that were obviously affiliated or had a sense of loyalty to certain persons of interest.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-18 20:42:01 

No to contract cops

ANY attempt by the Government or Police Commissioner Gary Griffith to implement police officers becoming contractual employees will not be supported.

This is the view of secretary of the Police Social and Welfare Association ASP Anand Ramesar to a proposed recommendation by Griffith that future police officers be contracted.

Griffith made the statement last Thursday during a media briefing at Police Administration headquarters in Port of Spain.

At the briefing, Griffith said, “I intend to make a recommendation as well because at times it becomes difficult to fire him (police officer) based on intelligence.

“I have over 150 cases people suing the Commissioner of Police before my tour of duty, for everything under the sun. We love to go to court. What I am doing and I am making a recommendation that, in the future, for recruits I am giving you a contract, so when police officers are on contract, we cannot do this for present police officers because they can sue me.

And what I can do is that all police officers in future on contracts for three or six years so we can monitor your performance.


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Implement asap

 
sgtdjones 2019-02-20 14:27:15 

Buried guns discovered in Sangre Grande


Eleven firearms and a large quantity of marijuana were seized in an ‘Operation Strike Back’ exercise in East Trinidad on Tuesday.


Police said the firearms and drugs were found in a forested area at Gordon miller Settlement, North Oropouche Road, Sangre Grande.

The drugs were packaged, wrapped in plastic, and stashed in crocus bags.


Police said the firearms were found in a six-inch pipeline buried in the ground.

No one was arrested in connection with the find.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-21 09:55:41 

Criminals switching to military weapons —senior cop

Crim­i­nals are shift­ing from the use of hand­guns to com­mit crimes to more so­phis­ti­cat­ed mil­i­tary-type ri­fles.

This from As­sis­tant Com­mis­sion­er of Po­lice (An­ti-Crime) Jayson Forde on Wednes­day as he told a Par­lia­ment Joint Se­lect Com­mit­tee on Na­tion­al Se­cu­ri­ty that po­lice were seiz­ing an av­er­age of 1,000 il­le­gal firearms an­nu­al­ly.

Forde ad­mit­ted that the rate at which il­le­gal firearms “ap­pear on the streets is some­thing to be con­cerned about.”

Vice chair­man of the Com­mit­tee Paul Richards told Forde the SSA’s 2016 da­ta showed there were 8,154 il­le­gal firearms in T&T and this fig­ure may be a drop in the buck­et. Many of those weapons came in through le­gal ports of en­try, the SSA found.

Forde said the fig­ures of firearms re­cov­ered have been far larg­er com­pared to pre­vi­ous years.

Of the 8,000 firearms, Richards said 169 were used in crimes.

“If I were to ac­cept this in the con­text of the seizure rate it sug­gests that about 7,500 plus il­le­gal firearms are just lurk­ing around T&T and are await­ing un­for­tu­nate use. The seizure of 1,000 out of 8,000 does not give me a lot of com­fort,” Richards said.

Richards said when he looked at the 2,000 crim­i­nal gangs op­er­at­ing in the coun­try, each re­cruit­ing an av­er­age of 20 mem­bers, we were “gross­ly un­der-es­ti­mat­ing the num­ber of firearms in T&T. The num­bers don’t seem to add up to me.”


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sgtdjones 2019-02-21 09:58:48 

Many of those weapons came in through le­gal ports of en­try, the SSA found.


When I explained this to the so-called expert on T&T,
he denied such happens as T&T customs and Immigration
will stop such.

 
sgtdjones 2019-02-21 16:48:47 

WPC quits after meeting Gary over offensive social media post


Woman Special Reserve Police (SRP) Constable Avril Alleyne, has tendered her letter of resignation with immediate effect.

This is was disclosed by the Police Service in a statement on Thursday.

The former SRP who was last attached to the Tobago Division, submitted her resignation letter on February 11.

Her resignation came after she posted offensive comments on social media earlier this month. She had been summoned to a meeting with the Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith to discuss her conduct.


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BeatDball 2019-02-21 17:10:02 

In reply to sgtdjones SGT...what, exactly, did the cunstable posted?

confused

 
sgtdjones 2019-02-22 08:47:14 

Prison officer’s house shot at

NORTHERN Division police are searching for the occupants of a white Nissan Tiida car who opened fire at the home of a prison officer on Saturday night.

Police said that at 10.30 pm, the car was seen outside the Tunapuna home of the prison officer when gunshots were fired. The vehicle later sped off while. The walls of the house were pock-marked by the bullets while there were holes in several windows.

Newsday was told that the prison officer was not at home during the shooting, however his parents were in a back room at the time and they were the ones who contacted the police. No one was harmed.

Acting Prisons Commissioner Dennis Pulchan, in a press release yesterday, condemned the shooting and reminded the public that attacking anyone including members of the protective services is a serious offence punishable by law.

He also urged prison officers to remain vigilant as the criminal element appears bent on not only intimidating but also to kill law enforcement officials.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-22 08:50:30 

In reply to BeatDball

SGT...what, exactly, did the cunstable posted?



Her social media post stated: "Them people nasty boi wow...they really say the best Indian is a dead one yes...gosh boy they greedy and nasty".

 
sgtdjones 2019-02-23 10:11:12 

Criminals going after soft targets


CRIMINALS are taking advantage of “soft” targets.

So police are once again urging people to be mindful of their surroundings and not take unnecessary risks.

Officers of the Port of Spain Division repeated this warning following a series of robberies and larcenies against people this week, where the elderly were among those targeted.


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sad sad

 
sgtdjones 2019-02-23 18:29:36 

2 cops, cop’s son quizzed on gang links

TWO police officers including the son of a senior officer, presently on pre-retirement leave, were interviewed by their colleagues in relation to alleged gang activity.

Police from the Northern Division, where the two officers are assigned, said they were called in for an interview by the Organised Crime and Intelligence Unit (OCIU). Both officers, sources said, were questioned after a report was made alleging their involvement in gang activity. The officers were summoned and went with their counterparts.

Police said they could not say if the men are still in custody or have been released.


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dayne 2019-02-23 18:44:05 

Amazing this is happening in an oil resource country.

 
sgtdjones 2019-02-24 10:10:48 

Lawyers under police probe

FOUR lawyers are under police probe for possible links to alleged gang leaders.

The Sunday Express has informed the four lawyers, who have visited prisoners at the Maximum Security Prison, are being investigated by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS).


The link between lawyers and gang members was first raised in a CCN TV6 report last week titled Understanding Gangs.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-24 10:11:46 

In reply to dayne

Amazing this is happening in an oil resource country.


The oil is gone, soon the natural gas.

All squandered by incompetent governments.

 
bravos 2019-02-24 10:13:50 

Yes asshole weapons come through all legal ports of entry BUT NOT WITH FRIGGING PASSENGERS ASSHOLE!!

CARGO CARGO CARGO !!!

Fiend..

 
sgtdjones 2019-02-24 10:27:10 

In reply to bravos

Yes asshole weapons come through all legal ports of entry BUT NOT WITH FRIGGING PASSENGERS ASSHOLE!!

CARGO CARGO CARGO !!!

Fiend..


So Port of Spain , San Fernando, Cedros, etc have ports of entry where both Cargo and passengers embark.

You are not an expert on T&T , just another moron.

You are a real dunce and each time you post
it confirms it again and again.

 
sgtdjones 2019-02-24 17:42:15 

Cops stop 20 kilos of cocaine heading to the airport

Three men were arrested officers of the Northern Division Task Force (NDTF)

Central during an anti-crime exercise in St. Helena on Saturday.

While on mobile patrol, officers of the NDTF Central received information and intercepted two vehicles suspected of transporting narcotics.

A white Mitsubishi Sportero and a black Nissan B13 were stopped and searched.

Officers discovered two suitcases containing a total of 23 packets of cocaine, weighing 20 kilogrammes. Two men from Piarco and one man from Gasparillo were arrested.

According to the Organised Crime and Intelligence Unit (OCIU), the narcotics has an estimated value of 8 million dollars.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-24 17:43:42 

Venezuelan women arrested at Tobago Port, Westmoorings

Five Venezuelan women were detained during anti-crime exercises conducted at the Scarborough Port, Tobago on Friday.

A 39-year-old Maraval man who was in the company of the women was also detained. The Immigration Division is preparing detention orders.

The woman are aged between 18 years to 34 years.

And during an anti-crime exercise on Friday, a house at Ridgewood Towers, Diego Martin was searched and two Venezuelan nationals were arrested after failing to produce valid documentation.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-25 08:06:03 

Third police officer held in gang link probe


A third po­lice of­fi­cer has been de­tained for al­leged­ly help­ing crim­i­nal gangs.

The of­fi­cer, who had been sus­pend­ed from du­ty last year on charges of com­mon as­sault, was held on Sun­day, ac­cord­ing to se­nior in­ves­ti­ga­tors.

Two oth­er po­lice of­fi­cers, one of whom is close­ly re­lat­ed to for­mer Po­lice Com­mis­sion­er Stephen Williams, were de­tained on Fri­day and re­mained in po­lice cus­tody.

Guardian Me­dia un­der­stands that of­fi­cers of the Or­gan­ised Crime and In­tel­li­gence Unit (OCIU) sub­mit­ted a file to the Di­rec­tor of Pub­lic Pros­e­cu­tions (DPP) yes­ter­day but were in­struct­ed to re-in­ter­view the ex-com­mis­sion­er’s rel­a­tive be­fore seek­ing fur­ther in­struc­tions.

Both men are be­ing held at a po­lice sta­tion in Port-of-Spain.

Guardian Me­dia re­port­ed on Sun­day that Williams’ rel­a­tive and an­oth­er 39-year-old po­lice con­sta­ble were ar­rest­ed by the OCIU at the Arou­ca Po­lice Sta­tion, short­ly af­ter they re­turned from the Tu­na­puna Mag­is­trates’ Court.

The lock­ers of both of­fi­cers were searched, their cell­phones seized and their homes were lat­er searched.

The ar­rests come af­ter months of sur­veil­lance of sev­er­al po­lice of­fi­cers sus­pect­ed of fa­cil­i­tat­ing gang ac­tiv­i­ty, in­clud­ing the trans­porta­tion of nar­cotics and oth­er con­tra­band across the coun­try.

Guardian Me­dia was in­formed that part of the al­leged fa­cil­i­tat­ing was the tip­ping-off of ri­val gangs dur­ing turf wars and po­lice raids.

Ear­li­er last week, mem­bers of an Arou­ca-based gang were tak­en in­to cus­tody by the OCIU. They al­leged­ly gave in­for­ma­tion about the in­volve­ment of sev­er­al po­lice of­fi­cers in their crim­i­nal net­work.

 
sgtdjones 2019-02-25 16:01:19 

Gary facing contempt of court, jail

POLICE Commissioner Gary Griffith may find himself facing contempt of court proceedings or even a possible jail term if he fails to carry out a High Court order which was issued last October.

“Ultimately, it would serve this court no pleasure in sending the commissioner to that other place called ‘GG’ which is Golden Grove. Please ensure this does not unfold,” said Justice Frank Seepersad to the commissioner’s attorneys today.

The judge made the comment during the hearing of a matter filed by a former police officer who was asked to repay the State close to $.5 million that was paid to him over the course of three years while on injury leave.

Last October, Justice Seepersad ruled in favour of retired Cpl Ashram Pariagsingh, ordering that he not be made to pay back the monies.


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BeatDball 2019-02-26 18:12:48 

In reply to sgtdjones That judge is a facting jackrass! WTF, doesnt he know human or socio-psychology? Couldnt he get in touch with GG, even via third party & resolve this? Here we have a PC that is kicking arses & the good judge wants some tv/newspaper headline. He's diminishing GG's influence by doing this shoite. He maybe a brite judge, but lacks facting sophistication. Bottomline, he's undermining Dr Rowley administration.

confused evil twisted

 
sgtdjones 2019-02-27 21:52:12 

Bandit arrested minutes after robbery

Members of the Port of Spain City Police arrested a 19-year-old Nelson Street man, minutes after he robbed a market vendor this afternoon.

Police said at around 5.30 pm, the victim was plying his goods at the Central Market when he was approached from behind by a man who ordered him to hand over his money.

When he refused, the bandit took $3000 from the vendor's pocket and ran away.

The man made a report to the market's police post, giving a description of the bandit.

Cpls John, McShine and Constable Fabres drove around east Port of Spain and found the man in John John.

He was arrested and found with $500.

The man was charged and is expected to appear before a Port of Spain magistrate tomorrow.

Police said Port of Spain vendors are the targets of increased attacks from bandits from Beetham and east Port of Spain.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-27 21:53:14 

500 SRPs to join TTPS after Carnival

President of the Police Welfare Association Michael Seales said approximately 500 Special Reserve police officers will be absorbed into the regular police service at the end of March.

Speaking at the weekly briefing at the Police Administration building, Sackville Street, Port of Spain, Seales said the association had a meeting with Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith last week which was satisfactory to the association.

Seals urged special reserve police officers to step up their performance, especially during the Carnival season, and not to let their performance affect their absorption or promotion.

“I am saying this now, it is important now, because we need you to perform not with just pride but with distinction over the Carnival period. Let me say to them and to rest assured, we have been able to secure with the commissioner that promotions will be just after Carnival.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-27 22:07:35 

Griffith: No one told me about court order
CoP on chance of being jailed:

COMMISSIONER of Police Gary Griffith says his office could not act on the court’s order to reclassify the leave of former Cpl Ashram Pariagsingh, as neither he, his office nor the legal unit of the Police Service were informed of the judge’s direction.

In a statement on Tuesday – the second one on the issue – Griffith said arms of the State external to the police did not forward the court’s order until last Friday, when the matter was scheduled for hearing on Monday.

The statement said when the commissioner’s office received it, he ensured that his office was represented at Monday’s hearing.

“Therefore, it was never a case of the Office of the Commissioner refusing to adhere to a court order; as this court order was never forwarded in the first place.

“This situation now highlights major administrative deficiencies in such matters and requires a review by all arms involved in these processes to prevent such recurrences,” the statement said.

However, in court on Monday, Justice Frank Seepersad pointed out that “there was no excuse” for compliance with his order, since the commissioner was represented at the trial.


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sgtdjones 2019-02-27 22:09:16 

Cops’ challenge to gang facilitation detention delayed

A le­gal chal­lenge from two po­lice of­fi­cers held on de­ten­tion or­ders un­der the An­ti-Gang Act has been de­layed.

Lawyers rep­re­sent­ing the of­fi­cers filed the ap­pli­ca­tions to set aside the or­ders on Tues­day night and they came up for hear­ing be­fore Jus­tice Lisa Ram­sumair-Hinds in the San Fer­nan­do High Court yes­ter­day af­ter­noon.

Dur­ing the brief hear­ing, lawyers rep­re­sent­ing the T&T Po­lice Ser­vice (TTPS) asked for time to re­spond to the ap­pli­ca­tions, as they claimed they were on­ly served with them late Tues­day evening. Ram­sumair-Hinds agreed and ad­journed the case to 11 am to­day.

The of­fi­cers were among three who were de­tained by de­tec­tives of Or­gan­ised Crime and In­tel­li­gence Unit (OCIU) at the Arou­ca Po­lice Sta­tion last Fri­day.

The T&T Guardian un­der­stands that in­ves­ti­ga­tors ap­plied un­der sec­tion 17 (5) of the leg­is­la­tion for de­ten­tion or­ders for the three of­fi­cers on Sun­day. The or­ders, which mean that the of­fi­cers could be held with­out charge for an ad­di­tion­al 11 days (un­til March cool, were grant­ed by Ram­sumair-Hinds with­out a hear­ing.

In her or­der, Ram­sumair-Hinds ruled that in­ves­ti­ga­tors were work­ing dili­gent­ly and ex­pe­di­tious­ly and that there were rea­son­able grounds for jus­ti­fy­ing the of­fi­cers’ con­tin­ued de­ten­tion. On­ly two of the of­fi­cers have chal­lenged her de­ci­sion thus far.

Le­gal sources said that on Mon­day an­oth­er or­der was sought and grant­ed for a civil­ian who is al­so un­der in­ves­ti­ga­tion.

The of­fi­cers are be­ing rep­re­sent­ed by Ul­ric Sker­ritt.


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