By Sue-Ann Wayow
PRIME Minister Dr Keith Rowley has announced that his government is in talks with the US to have “vetted units” within the arms of national security to assist in rooting out corruption in areas of law enforcement.
This, he said, on Saturday at a People’s National Movement (PNM) political meeting in San Fernando adding that he was willing to pay those persons more.
“Because one of the problems that we have is that there are too many criminals in the police service,” Dr Rowley said.
He said, “When you’re going after the non-police criminals, they have their friends in the police service, to tip them off. And we have to have vetted units and I am telling this country that we are prepared to pay extra to police officers in those vetted units, if they will maintain their integrity and help us to root out the criminals in the police service, in the customs, in immigration and in the Parliament.”
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Discussions were also with Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds and other relevant officials on the matter.
Mentioning a change in the US Federal Law as it relates to firearms, Dr Rowley said Trinidad and Tobago now had the support and involvement of the US Federal agencies to tackle crime at its source which was the importation and trafficking of guns into Trinidad and Tobago.
With an explosion of gun violence, he said police officers in doing their normal duty now, whether traffic or otherwise, were not aware of who they may confront and had to be specially prepared for a man or woman with a gun.
“As I am talking to you now, there is a good chance that there is somebody somewhere in this country planning to kill somebody before daybreak,” Dr Rowley said.
He said three people have been caught by the US Federal authorities, two Trinidadians and one American for supplying guns and ammunition to Trinidad and Tobago.
Dr Rowley said about a week ago, he was in a meeting with Hinds, local experts and the American experts “where the American government has undertaken and we have agreed to accept it, to create within our police service, what we call vetted units.”
He said, “Vetted units, meaning groups of special police officers, men and women who are vetted to ensure that their integrity is intact.”
Following his statements on Saturday, Dr Rowley also head of National Security Council met with Hinds, Commissioner of Police Erla Commissioner and other high-ranking officers of the Trinidad and Tobago protective services on Sunday.
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The meeting that also included the attendance of Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young, Acting Chief of Defence Staff Brigadier General Dexter Francis and the director of the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) was held at the Diplomatic Centre in St.Ann’s.
The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in a Facebook post at 12.33 pm announced the meeting accompanied by a silent video.
In a subsequent post at 4.19 pm, the OPM stated, “The meeting featured reports from each of the divisional heads of the TTPS who outlined the initiatives implemented in their region to address crime and criminality. The heads also provided information related to the specific issues affecting the communities within their divisions.
“The Commissioner of Police, Acting Chief of Defence Staff, and the Director of the SSA also provided reports to the National Security Council.”
The meeting lasted more than four hours.
Hinds also in a Facebook post wrote, “Articulating the policy positions; and encouraging Law Enforcement’s planned response to the wanton and traumatizing behaviour, of the relatively small number of dangerous, violent and destructive elements, wreaking mayhem in our society.”
He also posted pictures of Harewood-Christopher joining police in their routine checks.
