debut: 2/16/17
38,071 runs
T&T Never ending murders toll 562
With one month left in 2024, the murder toll is now 562. On Friday night, two men were gunned down in separate incidents in Port of Spain, one of them in the middle of a bustling Independence Square in Port of Spain. On Thursday night, a 46-year-old scrap iron dealer and his 21-year-old girlfriend were murdered by a gunman in their wooden shack in Claxton Bay. The couple’s baby and the man’s 17-year-old son were also in the house, but the boy grabbed the infant and ran out before they could be killed.
Figures from the Crime and Problem Analysis (CAPA) branch of the Police Service show that the country has averaged 53 murders for every month in 2024. November’s toll was 33 up to last night, which was the lowest monthly total for the year. August was the most murderous month with 68 people killed. So, if December follows suit, we are looking at a year-end total somewhere between 595 and 630. Even the lower figure would make 2024 the second most murderous year in Trinidad and Tobago’s entire history, while the latter figure would set a new record 20 killings higher than the 605 murdered in 2022.
At the post-Cabinet news conference last Thursday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said, “The only thing that I am fearful of is that when I leave this job as Prime Minister, it can be said...that I led a group of people in the Cabinet who were about stealing public money.”But, even if he doesn’t fear it, it is the record murder rate that will define Dr Rowley’s tenure. After all, about 80% of the almost 5,000 deaths on his watch were young, black men murdered in PNM constituencies.
Express Editorial
With one month left in 2024, the murder toll is now 562. On Friday night, two men were gunned down in separate incidents in Port of Spain, one of them in the middle of a bustling Independence Square in Port of Spain. On Thursday night, a 46-year-old scrap iron dealer and his 21-year-old girlfriend were murdered by a gunman in their wooden shack in Claxton Bay. The couple’s baby and the man’s 17-year-old son were also in the house, but the boy grabbed the infant and ran out before they could be killed.
Figures from the Crime and Problem Analysis (CAPA) branch of the Police Service show that the country has averaged 53 murders for every month in 2024. November’s toll was 33 up to last night, which was the lowest monthly total for the year. August was the most murderous month with 68 people killed. So, if December follows suit, we are looking at a year-end total somewhere between 595 and 630. Even the lower figure would make 2024 the second most murderous year in Trinidad and Tobago’s entire history, while the latter figure would set a new record 20 killings higher than the 605 murdered in 2022.
At the post-Cabinet news conference last Thursday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said, “The only thing that I am fearful of is that when I leave this job as Prime Minister, it can be said...that I led a group of people in the Cabinet who were about stealing public money.”But, even if he doesn’t fear it, it is the record murder rate that will define Dr Rowley’s tenure. After all, about 80% of the almost 5,000 deaths on his watch were young, black men murdered in PNM constituencies.
Express Editorial
- edited -
