One week after the state of emergency (SoE) was declared, there appears to have been a reduction in reports of violent crimes throughout the country.
Most notably, since the declaration of the SoE last Monday, Trinidad and Tobago has recorded only three murders.
The country’s murder toll for the corresponding period in 2024 saw at least nine people already being shot dead.
In announcing the SoE last week, then-acting attorney general Stuart Young and National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds lamented that the decision was made as a last resort, given the spike in the murder rate, particularly due to gang violence between warring factions.
Just one week prior to the SoE being announced, 23 people were killed.
Of that figure, five of them were killed at Prizgar Lands, Laventille, on the night of December 28.
The quintuple murder was said to be a reprisal for the attempted murder of a man suspected of being a gang leader.
The alleged gang leader and another man had gone to Besson Street Police Station in Port of Spain to report to police as part of their bail conditions in connection with matters for which they were before the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Court.
While the alleged gang leader managed to escape, the other man was shot and killed.
During last Monday’s news conference, Young and Hinds stated that information was received by law enforcement that there were plans by other gang members to carry out even more reprisal killings and this was the reason why the SoE was being called.
They sought to assure the country it was in no way meant to trample upon the constitutional rights of lawabiding citizens, but was instead only aimed at targeting the gangs.
From then to now, three people have been shot and killed.
On New Year’s Eve, attorney Randall Hector, 43, was assassinated as he, his wife and children were walking towards his car after leaving the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church, Stanmore
Avenue, Port of Spain.
His murder was the last for 2024, bringing the toll to a record-breaking 624.
Hector previously worked at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions before moving to the Office of the Attorney General, and later opening his own law firm.
He was also sometimes still briefed by the DPP’s Office to prosecute certain matters.
At one point he prosecuted the alleged gang leader who had escaped death outside the Besson Street station.
That matter, however, was dismissed on September 23 because of a lack of evidence.
The first murder to take place in 2025 was that of Keegan Barbour, 39, who was killed just an hour into the new year at his Laventille Road, San Juan, home.
Police said gunmen forced their way into his house and opened fire. He attempted to flee, but was pursued and shot dead in his backyard.
Yesterday the body of a teenage boy was found between Patience Hill and Black Rock, Tobago. He had been shot to death.
With the declaration of the SoE, police and members of the Defence Force have carried out a number of operational exercises throughout the country leading to the seizure of firearms, ammunition and drugs over the past week. A number of people, including the alleged gang leader, were also taken into custody.
Some citizens complained about road traffic exercises that were also being carried out by law enforcement. Ministers Young and Hinds had assured the SoE was not aimed at law-abiding citizens, some complained.
On December 31, Police Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher announced during a news conference that 46 people had been arrested throughout the country within the space of just 24 hours after the SoE was declared.
In the days to follow, the TTPS would issue a number of other media releases, announcing the results of other exercises.
One of the releases stated that between January 2 and 3, Western Division officers carried out an exercise in the Maraval district and arrested ten people for varying offences, including possession of drugs, firearms and ammunition.
During the operation, the officers proceeded to a bar at Morne Coco Road, where they conducted a search which resulted in the seizure of a quantity of marijuana.
The officers next went to an area in the vicinity of the WASA Water Treatment Facility, where they found a black plastic bag containing 12 rounds of ammunition.
Meanwhile, in the Arima district, an intelligence-led operation was conducted at Samaroo Village, where police conducted a search of a house.
The search resulted in the discovery of one Glock pistol loaded with a magazine containing 13 rounds of ammunition.
Two minors, ages 17 and 16, who were in the house at the time of the search, were arrested.
Another exercise in Sea Lots, Port of Spain, resulted in the seizure of 547 rounds of assorted ammunition and the arrest of four people.
Similar exercises were carried out in other areas throughout the country resulting in the seizure of a number of weapons, including highpowered rifles.
On Friday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said the Government’s move to declare the SoE was a “last resort”, given national security information about gang reprisal killings.
He was speaking at a news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister, Central Administrative Services, Scarborough, Tobago.
Rowley recalled the immediate trigger for the SoE, citing the murder that took place outside the Besson Street Police Station last Friday.
The incident led to a reprisal killing that claimed the lives of five men in one location in Laventille.
According to Rowley, this escalation of violence forced the Government to take decisive action to restore order and give law enforcement the upper hand in fighting crime. (Trinidad Express)
