BUSSING down doors! Drug-sniffing dogs wildly bark at the port as containers of drugs and guns get seized!
Massive raids at the luxury homes of kingpins and known “community leaders”! The people gather in the streets to celebrate the peace in their villages and neighbourhoods! All hail the miraculous State of Emergency, that has purged our nation of crime and gang warfare! Woo!
In… My… Dreams.
Sadly, there has been less kicking down doors and more issuing of traffic tickets, 2000 plus!
On Monday it was announced the SOE would be extended for a further three months (ending on April 14) given its striking success since it was proclaimed on December 30, 2024.
I, like many others, am caught on the fence regarding its effectiveness and if any plans of action have been devised.
Firstly, there was some confusion as to whether there would be gun amnesty… just in case Tommy Bad Man decided to turn in ONE of his illegal firearms, claiming he found Christ and was no longer in the gang game, as part of a sneaky plan throw those nosy coppers to whom is well “known.”
To break it down in layman’s terms, the laws that govern a SOE included Regulation 11, which provided for the amnesty, it was there in the 1990 and 2011 SOE’s. So, when the government called our current SOE and no mention of gun amnesty was made, people asked some questions.
Our poor, forever confuffled Attorney General had to admit no considerations had been made as to how to deal with the amnesty.
“It all happened so fast!” he cried, when questioned, “No one, tells me nothing!” (please note this is fiction, but I can imagine this is how he probably felt).
On Thursday, our demoralised AG put our fears to rest in its release stating that Regulation 11 had been removed the Emergency Regulations.
No gun amnesty for you Tommy Bad Man… the Popo ain’t playing!
Speaking of the Popo, apparently, they are afraid of gangs. According to our Prime Minister Dr Keith “Counting Down the Days To Retirement” Rowley, at night the police turn off the lights in the police station, shut the doors, clutch their rosaries, and sit in a prayer circle hoping they make it to morning.
Speaking at a Parliamentary debate this week, he said, “So when officers are in the police stations, it has come to my attention, in some districts, in some instances, police officers whose job it is to protect us and secure us, in some districts at night, are so afraid of the criminals that they close the police station door, turn off the light, and be inside there hoping that the criminals don’t come at them.”
All yuh I dead! Bahaha!
Naturally, this was not taken lightly by heads of the police service. Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Leader of the Opposition or LOTO, as an uncle of mine refers to her… which cracks me up because it sounds like “locho” and if you were raised by an Arima bred French creole, you were called “locho” more than a few times…anyway the LOTO jumped in and dared the PM and friends to ditch their security services if they think the police are such cowards! Damn girl, and give up all that smooth sailing through traffic, you know he ain’t gonna take that risk.
Then Commissioner of Police Erla Christopher Harewood jumped in to defend her officers, along with many other stake holders who were probably thinking, “Wha de bamcy this man just said.”
As such, Dr Rowley had to backpedal… sort of… he just gas lit everyone, which is on par for him. In a WhatsApp message he sent to a reporter at CNC3, he said, “The overblown criticisms are not focused on what I actually said. One, it was a statement of fact in relation to a few instances of policing. Are they denying that? Two, I was not so much criticising police officers as I was pointing out the accelerated brazenness of the criminals who are not prepared to respect the police, or even the police at the stations. What is there to criticise?”
Bahaha can you all picture Dr Rowley furiously tapping away at his phone’s screen! I’m dying of laughter here!
Listen, just shy of three weeks into the SOE I am still skeptical as to what the outcome will be. Will we see massive arrests of “big fish” criminals happening? Will we see seizures of gun and drug shipments? Or is it all for nothing?
Dealing with crime is not simple. While the SOE may have a slightly positive effect on crime, it is a temporary measure. There needs to be more discussion as to what comes after. Plans need to be put in place to dismantle gangs, improve crime detection, strengthen our border security and most importantly, programs must be developed to empower our youth, especially those from vulnerable areas, to ensure they can rise above the temptations of criminality and create a space for themselves within a society that recognizes their value.
So we will see, we will see, if this SOE, remains a comedy.
Dreaming that SoE Fixes Crime in T&T
AZP News Commentary
BUSSING down doors! Drug-sniffing dogs wildly bark at the port as containers of drugs and guns get seized!
Massive raids at the luxury homes of kingpins and known “community leaders”! The people gather in the streets to celebrate the peace in their villages and neighbourhoods! All hail the miraculous State of Emergency, that has purged our nation of crime and gang warfare! Woo!
In… My… Dreams.
Sadly, there has been less kicking down doors and more issuing of traffic tickets, 2000 plus!
On Monday it was announced the SOE would be extended for a further three months (ending on April 14) given its striking success since it was proclaimed on December 30, 2024.
I, like many others, am caught on the fence regarding its effectiveness and if any plans of action have been devised.
Firstly, there was some confusion as to whether there would be gun amnesty… just in case Tommy Bad Man decided to turn in ONE of his illegal firearms, claiming he found Christ and was no longer in the gang game, as part of a sneaky plan throw those nosy coppers to whom is well “known.”
To break it down in layman’s terms, the laws that govern a SOE included Regulation 11, which provided for the amnesty, it was there in the 1990 and 2011 SOE’s. So, when the government called our current SOE and no mention of gun amnesty was made, people asked some questions.
Our poor, forever confuffled Attorney General had to admit no considerations had been made as to how to deal with the amnesty.
“It all happened so fast!” he cried, when questioned, “No one, tells me nothing!” (please note this is fiction, but I can imagine this is how he probably felt).
On Thursday, our demoralised AG put our fears to rest in its release stating that Regulation 11 had been removed the Emergency Regulations.
No gun amnesty for you Tommy Bad Man… the Popo ain’t playing!
Speaking of the Popo, apparently, they are afraid of gangs. According to our Prime Minister Dr Keith “Counting Down the Days To Retirement” Rowley, at night the police turn off the lights in the police station, shut the doors, clutch their rosaries, and sit in a prayer circle hoping they make it to morning.
Speaking at a Parliamentary debate this week, he said, “So when officers are in the police stations, it has come to my attention, in some districts, in some instances, police officers whose job it is to protect us and secure us, in some districts at night, are so afraid of the criminals that they close the police station door, turn off the light, and be inside there hoping that the criminals don’t come at them.”
All yuh I dead! Bahaha!
Naturally, this was not taken lightly by heads of the police service. Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Leader of the Opposition or LOTO, as an uncle of mine refers to her… which cracks me up because it sounds like “locho” and if you were raised by an Arima bred French creole, you were called “locho” more than a few times…anyway the LOTO jumped in and dared the PM and friends to ditch their security services if they think the police are such cowards! Damn girl, and give up all that smooth sailing through traffic, you know he ain’t gonna take that risk.
Then Commissioner of Police Erla Christopher Harewood jumped in to defend her officers, along with many other stake holders who were probably thinking, “Wha de bamcy this man just said.”
As such, Dr Rowley had to backpedal… sort of… he just gas lit everyone, which is on par for him. In a WhatsApp message he sent to a reporter at CNC3, he said, “The overblown criticisms are not focused on what I actually said. One, it was a statement of fact in relation to a few instances of policing. Are they denying that? Two, I was not so much criticising police officers as I was pointing out the accelerated brazenness of the criminals who are not prepared to respect the police, or even the police at the stations. What is there to criticise?”
Bahaha can you all picture Dr Rowley furiously tapping away at his phone’s screen! I’m dying of laughter here!
Listen, just shy of three weeks into the SOE I am still skeptical as to what the outcome will be. Will we see massive arrests of “big fish” criminals happening? Will we see seizures of gun and drug shipments? Or is it all for nothing?
Dealing with crime is not simple. While the SOE may have a slightly positive effect on crime, it is a temporary measure. There needs to be more discussion as to what comes after. Plans need to be put in place to dismantle gangs, improve crime detection, strengthen our border security and most importantly, programs must be developed to empower our youth, especially those from vulnerable areas, to ensure they can rise above the temptations of criminality and create a space for themselves within a society that recognizes their value.
So we will see, we will see, if this SOE, remains a comedy.