Senior Reporter
jesse.ramdeo@cnc3.co.tt
The use of illegal high-powered assault weapons was one of the concerns raised by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley at a meeting of the National Security Council convened after last weekend’s spate of murders.
During the talks held with the country’s heads of security on Monday evening, Dr Rowley also highlighted the need for “a more proactive, intelligence-driven, targeted and robust approach which is focused on those who are known and suspected to be involved in serious criminality,” said a release on the meeting from the Office of the Prime Minister.
Also discussed was the deployment of resources in “a coordinated and collaborative manner of sustained joint operations, particularly in areas where there is a known concentration of criminal activity.”
Monday’s meeting was attended by Police Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher, Deputy Police Commissioners Junior Benjamin, Natasha George, Suzette Martin and the heads of the ten divisions of the T&T Police Service (TTPS).
Also present was Chief of Defence Staff, Air Vice Marshall Darryl Daniel, Acting Commissioner of Prisons Carlos Corraspe and Director of the Strategic Services Agency Brigadier General (Ret) Anthony Phillips-Spencer.
Dr Rowley reiterated the Government’s support of the services, in particular the TTPS, in carrying out their duties and responsibilities, provided that “they are always done within the legal parameters.”
The victims of the weekend bloodshed included three men who were gunned down outside Pizza Boys outlet in Cunupia on Sunday afternoon and Rio Claro businesswoman Carissa Ramrattan who was shot dead shortly after dropping off her vehicle to be serviced at Toyota Trinidad, South Park, San Fernando, on Saturday.
Commenting on the talks, a former senior police officer, who did not want to be identified, said the strategies discussed could be effective once executed in an orderly and data-driven manner.
“It must be an organised initiative. Just putting people out there and then looking at hot spot areas ... you may have hot spot areas where the incidents happen, but the people who are committing the offences don’t live in the hot spot areas, they come from different locations.
The former officer, who has a deep understanding of police operations, said in addition to the regular patrols and search exercises promised by the TTPS executive, they must also dial in on the rivalries between gang members to ensure a clinical response.
“The exercise must be intelligence-driven, must take into consideration where the people coming from and the other aspects that relate to gang violence. The intelligence must get on top of what is happening so that they can in fact do more preventative measures and one way of doing so is to have massive presence,” he said.