Police Commissioner Gary Griffith has slammed one of his predecessors for criticising his introduction of camouflage uniforms for elite units of the T&T Police Service (TTPS) and suggesting its use was illegal.
A strongly-worded statement issued by the TTPS’s corporate communication unit yesterday questioned the comments made by the unnamed past commissioner in a report published in a newspaper yesterday.
“As mentioned, there are four surviving previous commissioners, and this statement by one has virtually embarrassed the other three,” the release stated.
Referring to claims that only members of the Defence Force are allowed to wear such uniforms, the release pointed to section 99 of the Defence Act, which states that uniforms can also be worn by non-military personnel with the permission of the Minister of National Security. It also reiterated that Griffith sought and received approval for the uniforms to be used in a testing phase.
As it noted that in the past other elite units wore the exact uniforms while escorting the President and Prime Minister, the release questioned if that meant that the law was broken under the watch of the anonymous commentator.
“Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith notes that it is interesting that this ex-CoP did not have an issue or see it illegal then, but now that he is no longer in the Service, he now sees this as being illegal,” the release said.
It also challenged the claim that such uniforms should only be used in forested areas, as it stated that urban pixel uniforms as being used now were the main uniform used by law enforcement officers in Canada, the United Kingdom, Jordan and Russia.
It suggested that if the former commissioner felt so strongly about the issue he should have revealed his name.
“It is nothing other than an act of cowardice and sums up the character of that said individual, and obviously jealously as to what is transpiring now in the TTPS that he was obviously unable to do under his watch,” the release said, as it described the individual as a coward and hypocrite.
The statement also described the report as a red herring to detract from the positive work being done by the TTPS under Griffith.
“However, the strategic operations of the TTPS intends to cripple the criminal industry, so expect more stories and comments, but those attempting to do that would fail in their obvious mission,” the release said.
The issue of the uniforms has also been raised by the Police Social and Welfare Association, which cautioned the widespread use over fears that the TTPS would appear militarised and lose its identity.
However, the association has repeatedly proposed a change in uniforms, inclusive of tactical wear.