The Opposition Leader has called on the Government to immediately act to provide FULs and personal legal firearms to all law enforcement officers.
In a media release, Kamla Persad-Bissessar said, “These brave men and women can rest assured that if no action is taken by this Government, the UNC will move without delay to provide said licences and firearms upon our return to Government.”
She said murders of prison and police officers have occurred with increasing regularity over the past years and there have been numerous reports of threats to law enforcement officers, with some acted upon, such as the brazen attempted assassination of Deputy Prisons Commissioner Sherwin Bruce.
Last week, Police Constable Ravindra Harrinarine was killed during an attempted robbery. The week before, prison officer Kendall Smith was gunned down in Arima.
In her statement, Persad-Bissessar quoted Prison Officers’ Association of Trinidad and Tobago general secretary Lester Logie who said all law enforcement officers, once they meet the criteria and have been properly vetted, should be issued an FUL certificate so that they could purchase firearms to protect the lives of themselves and their family.
“It is only right that provisions must be made to provide all of our courageous law enforcement officers with personal legal firearms paid for by the State, so they can protect themselves and their families when they are off duty,” she said.
The Opposition Leader said we cannot reasonably ask law enforcement officers to put their safety at risk, daily while on duty, only to leave them unprotected when they leave their workplaces. She said this was urgently required in light of what she called the “constant murders of law enforcement officers, with some hits reportedly being ordered from behind bars.”
Persad-Bissessar said law enforcement was an exceedingly high-stress and high-risk occupation.
She said the murders and regular death threats are having a traumatic effect on officers of the protective services and their families and the fact is that these officers have already been vetted and meet the competence criteria as they do handle firearms while on duty.
“It is hypocritical that some ministers and members of their families are the holders of several legal guns, while law enforcement officers are not afforded the same means to protect themselves and their loved ones when off duty by this Government,” she said.
Guardian Media reached out to Commissioner of Police Erla Harewood-Christopher for comment, but there was no reply up to late yesterday evening.
Last year the Opposition Leader called on lawful firearms users to “empty the clip” on bandits who broke into their homes. She said once the UNC returned to governance she would enact stand your ground laws.