When I first read the headline, I thought Philbert was apologising to the families of the victims of this and other serious crimes. I couldn't believe it was referring to an apology to the kidnappers' families.

I think it would have been more appropriate for these men's families to do the apologising to the kidnapped victim and his family and the public. No doubt this wasn't the first crime that these criminals perpetrated on hapless victims, but it is the last one for them; that is for sure.

ianE Only in Trinidad do we get such idiots for cop cmon son wake up and go after these thugs rather than pussy footing around with public relations to these thugs and their families I would investigate these families to see if I can weed out more criminal

And I'm sorry for having you as my Police Commissioner.

I really thought that more emphasis and sympathy should have been extended to the victims instead.

When I looked at the news on tv last night and saw the relative if the 3 kidnappers who were killed by police, they hid their faces similarly to when arrested people go to court.

Folks, the CoP knows that the victims of crime and their families are no threat to himself and the police force therefore they are not worthy of an apology. The criminals on the other hand may retaliate thus the apology from the CoP which may be an indirect plea to not take any retribution against him.

Did you all actually READ this article?

If you did, how could you justify your comments? The CoP's position seems in concert with what people seem to be demanding -- strong action against criminals. I did not see him apologise for his men having to use necessary force, nor for defending themselves.

I hope that the families of the kidnappers would apologise to Mr. Imran M Khan and his family . Mr. Commissioner , the curcumstances which cause the death of those miscreants , were of their own making , so please do not have inner-conflict over this matter , they deserve what they got . Those policemen put their lives on the line at Carlsen Field last Wednesday and I hope that they will receive the appropiate commendations .
ATW-Barbados .

Mr. Philbert Sir,

You are a gentleman for appologizing to the family of these thugs. However, when they have no mercy for the hard working citizens then no one should have mercy for them. TAKE THEM OUT!

Mr. Philbert is the CoP of ALL of T&T, the good, bad and ugly citizens also. The Police carried out their duties, and in the process 3 men were killed, as the police had no choice but to defended themselves. Mr. Philbert is not 'watering down' the role his men played in this incident. They are professionals and did what they were trained to do.

These relatives had to face the harsh reality that it was their offsprings, who went astray and terrorised our citizens, who were now lying in the Forensic Science Centre. They were under undue emotional stress; and a kind word may be able to help them cope. To me his message to them was simply to say 'I am sorry that you as relatives have to go through this horrific experience of identifying the bodies of your offspring who went astray'. Mr. Philbert, no matter what we may think of him, reached out to the grieving relatives. I am sure that he knew he would be criticised for his actions, but he did what he believed that he had to do as the CoP and a human being. Its called empathy.
Gardenia

Sorry for what, Mr Philbert?????

I couldn't believe what I was reading. The Acting Commissioner of Police apologizing to criminals' families for their deaths at the police's hands. How about apologizing to the valiant police officers who put their lives on the line to apprehend them, these police officers who could have been killed doing this, the victim and the victim's families? Nowhere in the world could something as ridiculous as this could be happening. I can't get over it. What's next? Are you going to pay to bury these criminals? Why not have an official police and state funeral for them as well? Talk about a clown in the Police Commissioner's chair.

Now I read EVERY comment made on the yesterday's article about the killing of the kidnappers and some people cried out saying that the police should have fired to injure the criminals so that they could be caught and tried in court blah blah blah CLOGGING UP THE COURT SYSTEM!

I highly disagree with that point of view but clearly it was one that the CoP considered when apologizing to the kidnappers' families.

On the other hand, in response to this ENTIRE SITUATION, I say that if police officers in a rescue operation are FIRED at, they have the RIGHT to PUT THOSE PEOPLE DOWN! Did you note the ammunition seized at the scene of the crime? When I read the article I said "GOOOOOOOOOOOOD! 3 less criminals for me to be afraid of!"

We need to CLEAN up T&T...purge our land of them! I do not CARE if we're fostering an "eye for an eye" culture-- THEY DO NOT CARE! They do not care when they kill people's fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, boyfriends, aunts, uncles, girlfriends, children! They don't care that people can't LIVE as they used to! That people have to emigrate because they are so FRIGHTENED TO LIVE IN T&T-- i mean THIS IS RIDICULOUS!

the criminals don't care so we should NOT bat an eyelid when they're WIPED OUT!

Further, the news stations need to STOP airing their mothers who say nonsense like "HE WAS A GOOD BOY!" FOLLY!

I realised I did not touch on THIS article properly! NOOOOOOO! do NOT apologise to their families! ASK THEM WHAT WENT WRONG TO LEAD THEIR RELATIVES TO DO THIS! tell them to STOP COVERING THEIR FACES! they are TOOOOOOO shame! I mean I understand some people are just rebellious but that is the minority-- the majority of the time it stems from their NURTURING not their nature!

Sometimes I wonder.

I notice that the police did not know the identities of the victims, nor were their names published in the newspapers. Yet, the relatives knew enough to come out and identify the bodies at the morgue. This just goes to show that the parents, the family and the children of these criminals (who in themselves are a waste of human specimens) know exactly what they are doing. I don't think there is one objective person who would feel sorry for any of these family members. So had it not been for Mr Philbert condolences, they would not have gotten any...but maybe he meant to say, " I am sorry that you raised such useless children, and were the brothers and sisters of such useless persons." I mean that's a condolence message too, right?

WHY IS HE APOLOGIZING

If he is apologizing to the families of the lowlifes, what is he going to do for the families of the victims who are killed every day in this country? These young punks have no regard for human life. They care nothing for the people they kill, rob and terrorize, so just as I was congratulating the police for a job well done in eliminating the country of these stinking cockroaches, here comes the commissioner of police apologizing to their families for their deaths. What is the message here. Give them a heroes' burial? I am in shock. I am done. This is the reason why those people in John John feel they have the right to destroy the fabric of our society. They have all the rights, and we, the hard-working, god-fearing people of this nation.... well, we are just nothing. Thanks alot Mr. Philbert. I take it all back. You are not to be congratulated.

The response by Acting COP Philbert was weak and exposed the spineless attitude of our lawmen towards the criminals.An apology by the Acting Police Commissioner James Philbert was out of order and a disrespect to all crime victims, who have suffered under the hands of the criminal.The mere fact that an apology came from the highest office in law enforcement sends the wrong message,the message through an apology that was expressed by Philbert and sent to the criminals,the victim,the police men and the Police Department is, criminals should be treated with kid gloves,even if they attempt to kill the victims and the policemen.Shame on you Philbert.

markie hampton
the cops will throw ip and bury the guys plus send rose, only in this neck of the woods

James Philbert makes an apology to the families of the murderes perhaps because they lost their lives by being shot by police officers. Although he is the chief who gave the orders to return fire when fired upon, he now kinda recant his orders. I guess he expected the police to make an arrest without returning fire when fired upon. Neverthess, why no one had the guts to apologise or even show symphathy for the deaths of Balo, the American War Veteran who was chopped and barreled in Santa Cruz. How come no apologies were made for the young lady of Extra Foods-Vindra Naipaul who was dismembered and disposed in Diego Martin?

There is no absolute need to apologise to murderes, killers, or abductors. They have been in the practice of the commission of their crimes for perhaps over twelve years. It is complete insanity to listen to the CoP feeling sorry for the killers.This is not a ramdom opportinity, it is premeditated plan that is preconcieved that crime really pays big in T&T. Why go to work?

SHAME ON YOU PEOPLE!!! -
Where did any of you read or see where Philbert apologise to anyone's family for killing their children????

WHERE???

It is said that English is one of the hardest languages to learn and understand. Yet still there are people of foreign tongues who speak and understand English better than those whose native tongue is English!!
The majority of the comments here betray the most basic understanding of what the CoP said. He never apologised to anyone's family for killing anybody. It is one thing to say "I am sorry I killed your children". Tell me how the hell saying "I am sorry for the circumstances under which I killed your children" means the same thing??? "The regrettable part is that we had to defend ourselves in the strongest fashion which resulted in the demise of three young men". All that means is that he sorry about the MANNER in which they met their demise, not THAT they met their demise. How is that apologizing to the families for killing anybody? That is not even a technical apology. WHAT SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT THAT? And he is quite right to make mention of it. It was his duty to make it known that the course of action that was eventually taken was not the way he wanted it to go, in other words, not be the norm. Philbert is a man of CLASS and he AND his officers should be applauded in this case. He is totally without fault here. But a setta people talking about he apologizing to criminals families. WHERE ALLYUH SEE DAT??? Allyuh people really jokey in this place yes...

AS A BLACK MAN -

Congratulations to the Police in responding quickly, it would have been nice if there were no casualties. I am very concerned at the Black on Black Ethnic Cleansing. Whether it is gang against gang or police against bandit. We are losing too many of our young black men. I feel as a society we continue to fail. When society fails the most vulnerable always pays the price. A lot of well protected people are making a lot of money out of this crisis. It may well be supported at the political level across all parties. We do not know who is financing our political parties. All parties are guilty of breaking the law by overspending at elections, to the tune of hundreds of millions. If we have our Political Parties breaking the laws/rules what example is that. One party when asked how in such a short time they were able to spend hundreds of millions on elections. The response is that they had cake sales and bar-b-ques. Everybody fooling everybody.

From a PR standpoint, the CoP clearly didn't handle this well. It would be interesting to read the actual transcripts of his statements.

During his apology he should have implored citizens to raise their children with some sense of respect and morality. This would prevent them from thinking about kidnapping another human being or committing some of these heinous crimes.

As they say in politics, you've got to appeal to your "base." He's probably just trying to secure his post as the CoP and thought this statement was in his best interest.

It's unfortunate that he didn't seem as concerned for a family, that, only a few years ago, had to endure a similar ordeal.

Well I think I've heard it all now! with crime the way it is and innocent citizens being kidnapped left and right and also being murdered, we are issuing statments of regret for using the same deadly force the criminals use on us? to bring back a point the president (Max Richards) made at his innorgural ceremony "be mindful of becoming another failed state" well I think we are now a failed state and another banana republic when the CoP makes public statements like this to the relatives of the criminal element, if the CoP wanted to extend his regret at what transpired he should have done so privately, the country is sick and tired of crime and the for the most part the way national security drags it's feet with regard to the protection of the citizens so the public statement will obviously anger most people reading about it or hearing it on TV or by any other medium they got a hold of the public statement. May God have mercy on TnT.

The headlines have implied that Mr Philbert was apologising to the family but on reading the article it is plain to see that the is not what is meant nor did he say I am "apoligising" to the family.
Being sorry for the circumstances under which they met their deaths is no apology to the families, but shows that he would have prefered that a life was not taken by his men.
This English language is a tough one to understand.
The new paper and the rest of the media have a unique way of riling the people up, most of the bloggers have not even read the article, but prefer to lambaste Mr Philbert because of the head lines. Headlines sell news papers.

Surely he did not apologize for the fact that they criminals were killed. The fact that they had to be killed is what he was referring to as regrettable. What Trinidad needs badly is some form of martial law. Sure enough all citizens will lose some rights and freedoms. But we may have to take a step or two backward in order to make many strides ahead.

People don't think I'm naive when I say/ask this, is he in any way "related" to these people??? Does he have insight or knowledge of this crime??? Here are the fax as I read it...

They kidnapped a working man on his way to earn an honest living!
They were illegally armed with guns!
They shot at police!
One police officer was reported to be shot, but was saved by his bullet resistant vest.
They were clearly hard core criminals!

And this IDIOT have the audacity to apoligise to the families, ah wonder what he woulda do if one of the officers was killed?? One officer was shot, don't hear him apologising to his family, OR THAT OF THE VICTIM!! You telling me that these family thought these fellas were alter boys? If you not working how are you maintaining your lifestyle, by going to church?? NOT! I guess being ah criminal gets you apoligies from the highest positions eh!! Mr. James Philbert here's my message to you, IT'S BETTER TO KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT AND LET PEOPLE THING YOU ARE A FOOL, RATHER THAN OPEN IT.....AND ERASE ALL DOUBT!!! Mr Philbert do yourself ah favor, your administration already wasting millions, take ah little and hire some with some sense to speak for you, yuh know ah mouth piece, and keep yuh foot in yuh mouth please don't pull it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lets look at the bigger picture and real issue at hand. Look at the CoP name tag above his right breast pocket. He cannot align it parallel 1/8 of an inch above the pocket seam as required by regulation, but we expect him to be proficient in technical matters. Maybe my eyes are lying to me or maybe his body might be defective.

FEAR AND EMOTION -

Fear and emotion has gripped T&T. We are not in charge we are just reacting to someone’s agenda. To think that it is now difficult to recognise the law keepers and the lawbreakers, they are talking the same language. Kill, Kill, Kill.