Lamenting that criminals were within her community, the mother of Enrico and grandmother of Anika Guerra, who were murdered in Moruga in August, said yesterday she doesn’t know who to trust—including the police.
Hesper Ali-Darsoo made the comment at the Trinidad and Tobago Scrap Iron Dealers’ Association (TTIDA) Crime Talk in St Mary’s Village. It was held obliquely opposite from where her son and granddaughter were murdered.
The 34-year-old father and his five-year-old daughter were gunned down at Enrico’s Corner Mart on August 20.
Ali-Darsoo, vice president of the St Mary’s Moruga Police Council, recalled that her son worked with her that fateful day and was washing their work vehicle. About half an hour after she left him, he and his daughter were dead. Lamenting that it took 13 seconds for the two gunmen to kill them, she recalled seeing him on the ground with his brains scattered next to him.
“That is something that I will live with for the rest of my life.”
Questioning who to trust, she said, “I sure Hesper Ali-Darsoo have more information than homicide but who am I giving it to? I can’t go to certain stations.
“Our community is killing our community. The people in our community are killing our own people and you know what, they are the ones who walking in the midst and sitting in the midst and toting the news. Who do we trust? Who can we trust when there are those in authority who are also working with them?” Ali-Darsoo said the criminals are also aware that residents have been begging for more manpower at the St Mary’s Police Station and how that will impact their response to crimes in the district.
Recalling that her neighbour was robbed last week, Ali-Darsoo said the men wore police tactical attire. She claimed there were criminals in the community watching their movements, selling drugs and guns and also loaning guns to kill people. She also alleged that criminals were forming a union in the area.
“We need to stand as a community and get it back. Our community is losing our grounds to these people,” she said.
However, acting ASP Hamlet Bandhan of the Southern Division Area East assured that the police were working to remedy issues within the police service. Acknowledging that some residents may have had direct and indirect negative experiences with the police, he urged them not to lose faith in the police. Instead, he called on residents to work with them and him to weed out the “few bad eggs” in the community. He also urged parents to take charge of their children.
“We are seeing it in the schools, we are seeing where the youths are being led astray and we as parents need to pull them back. The police can’t do it alone because it starts from societal issues that need to be dealt with and we will deal with it also but we need your help to get the youths back on track,” Bandhan urged.
The senior officer admitted it was difficult to see young people dying on the side of the road and in the hospital from stab and gunshot wounds.
TTSIDA president Allan Ferguson said there were many “bad boys and criminals” who wanted to change their lives, but they didn’t know who to turn to. He said he wants to help but needs more people to come on board.