Farewell Mrs Officer: How many murders will it take to puncture T&T’s self-delusion?

“I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me.”

SE Hinton, The Outsiders.

Somewhere in Trinidad and Tobago, there is likely to be a high powered national security meeting going on right now. But it will have little to do with catching the killer of WPC Nyasha Joseph, whose lifeless body was found today by fishermen just outside the Caroni Swamp.

Photo: WPC Nyasha Joseph, the 22-year-old mother of a four-year-old girl, was found dead on Wednesday 15 March 2017.
Photo: WPC Nyasha Joseph, the 22-year-old mother of a four-year-old girl, was found dead on Wednesday 15 March 2017.

No, the object will be to somehow obfuscate the horrific truth about life on our two island paradise. And the truth is we are about as safe as a fowl in Colonel Sanders’ henhouse.

And we’re probably not worth the price of a Supa Deal either.

Photographs of Nyasha cuddling a fellah with more gold than Maraj and Sons have already been circulating. And the dude, mind you, is allegedly employed by a “Chemist”, although neither gentleman have chemistry degrees and both supposedly use highly unusual methods to cure headaches.

But the peeping Toms, who think women are co-conspirators for no reason other than their proximity to potential criminals, miss an important point—other than the irony that politicians never take responsibility for the behaviour of the crooked contractors they invite to their birthdays and wedding parties.

The point is not whether or not the criminal can get hold of a potential victim. Surely it ought to be whether the law can get hold of the criminal—or is even trying to.

“When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong.”

King Solomon, Ecclesiastes 8:11

The wolves are not even bothering with sheep’s clothing anymore. And even police are not off-limits. The only ones engaged in self-delusion at present is the public.

Photo: Hahaha... Wait. What?
Photo: Hahaha… Wait. What?

Besides distributing speeding tickets and assisting wreckers, what does the police do effectively? Why even bother with the charade anymore?

Instead of looking us square in the eye and insisting that “officers are working assiduously to bring the perpetrators to justice”, acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams might as well tell Trinidad and Tobago: “Your guess about what we should do now is as good as mine!”

If ever there was a poor actor in La La Land, it was Williams. Criminologist Renee Cummings probably comes up with more feasible crime fighting ideas than the entire National Security Council before she has even had breakfast.

Abiela Adams, Rachael Ramkissoon, Shannon Banfield, Nadia Simms, Asami Nagakiya, Dana Seetahal… At this rate, Usain Bolt would not have anyone left to aggressively dry hump at the 2018 Carnival.

In the midst of the savagery are whispers—and Mr Live Wire spoke to alleged eye witnesses—that a certain soca star who hasn’t had a fogging hit in years has been beating his girlfriend like a magic drum.

Man and woman ting, of course. Nothing more than tea time conversation for Kermit.

We continue to believe that violence can be contained to areas which are not threatening to the rest of us. This illusion allows us to continue merrily with our lives, confident in our belief that Colonel Sanders will never be interested in serving up good fowls like us.

Photo: Murder victim, Shannon Banfield.
Photo: Murder victim, Shannon Banfield.

Until it is too late.

“If it is necessary sometimes to lie to others, it is always despicable to lie to oneself.”

W Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil.

Farewell, Mrs Officer. You have gone to a place beyond fear. It is the rest of us to ketch now.

Whatever your faults, you did not deserve such a horrific ending.

And to the Prime Minister, National Security Minister and acting Police Commissioner, save the ole talk. The usefulness of your efforts will be reflected only in results. When you are stuck in the middle of the deep blue sea, you learn to swim or you drown. There are no bonus points for trying.

We have wasted enough time jammin’ in La La Land. Fete over, so get to work!

“An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded.”

Pope John Paul II

Photo: Murdered WPC Nyasha Joseph.
Photo: Murdered WPC Nyasha Joseph.
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About Mr. Live Wire

Mr. Live Wire is an avid news reader who translates media reports for persons who can handle the truth. And satire. Unlike Jack Nicholson, he rarely yells.

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125 comments

  1. Kamala help her people sat spoke for her and the Hindu community Dr keith Rowley seems to me he is helping all the other Races, i am not seeing any black African brothers getting any contracts people who are sincere towards the pnm are still suffering only a set of empty talk with a husky voice dont understand him sometimes good thing i dont have to depend on any Government,my help comes from my lord,i eat little still surviving,my bills are paid on time, i always look good,i love my creator ,i on earth for a short while my time will expire you feel i have Government to take on you all do well.

  2. I have a video that will anger alot of people but I will wait until it starts circulating . It shows certain people enjoying a swim at a hotel pool . I don’t know if it’s before the wpc’s death or after . Sad !

  3. lets just live and pray thats all there is nothing we can do

  4. Trinidad was a land of paradise now it is a land of parasites

  5. A judge has ruled that police officers have until next week Monday to charge the suspect in the killing of WPC Nyasha Joseph, or set him free.

    http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20170316/news/wpc-suspect-denied-freedom-judge-gives-cops-3-more-days

  6. Lasana Liburd, sad to say but it will have plenty more killings like this before the year ends if persons like you ignore the main cause of the problem. As i said before, The politicians you are blaming CANNOT change the minds of the criminals, In order to stop crime you need to make laws that will infringe on the rights of people and critics like you will not allow that to happen so crime is here to stay… The only solution is good parenting (which you dont like me to say) Bad parenting are to blame for some (or most) of the young girls that got killed. When we start educating the young girls and stop focusing on Dr. Rowley’s comment then we are ready to go forward

    • No. They can do something called police work. When the public begins to feel more confident in their attempts, they will help them more.
      The solution to a underperforming police service cannot be to give them more powers. That doesn’t make sense to me.
      Are you saying that the police is service is performing as well as we should expect under current legislation?
      Good parenting or bad parenting doesn’t affect a policeman’s ability to investigate a killing and find the murderer.

    • You not listening to yourself sir.. Theres no logic in your statement. Do you really believe that anyone from those crime areas will ever help any police solve crime, confidence or not?
      No police service have a crystal ball to solve crime, i believe that they try their best despite the rouge elements.
      Also good parenting will avoid the police from investigating soo many murders. I’m now seeing you as part of the problem instead of the solution. You are one of those who will allow your child to go out in the road where there are loose pitbulls all because you believe you have the power to complain when she gets kill. Thats the logic you are using in your argument, leave the young girls to run wild with any man they choose. Thief, murderer, kidnapper, drug pusher, doesnt matter, when they kill you the public will cry and complain. Think again bro….

    • If you complain to a policeman about a drug den and a pusher comes and tells you exactly what you said to the officer, you will lose confidence in the police.
      I don’t think I should take the other points you made seriously enough to respond. Right?

    • That has been happening for years with bad police officers, i’m not denying that but it has nothing to do with why ghetto people have no confidence in the police. It also doesnt help your point in deflecting the issue of bad parenting and young girls making bad choices

    • If you blame the police’s low detection rate on bad parenting then I just don’t know what to tell you.

    • Woi, Bro, Open up your mind, read my comments again and again because you not getting the point…..
      My point is…. My point is….. My point is…
      I WILL TYPE IN BOLD SO YOU CAN SEE IT BETTER…..
      PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN ANY DETECTION RATE ANY DAY….
      PREVENT YOUR CHILD FROM GETTING RAPE
      PREVENT YOUR CHILD FROM GETTING ABUSED
      PREVENT YOUR CHILD FROM GETTING KILLED
      YOU CAN DO ALL OF THAT BY DOING YOUR WORK AS A PARENT AND NOT DEPENDING ON ANY POLICE
      I HOPE YOU GET THE POINT NOW, OTHERWISE I CANNOT EDUCATE YOU ANYMORE

    • Were you here to educate me? How charitable. I wonder how many parents failed to prevent their children getting killed or raped? Loads of bad parents eh?
      Glad you’re here to point out how bad they are at their time of grief. With good neighbours like you…

    • Well maybe you can educate me as to when is a good time to educate them. 2 weeks after, 2 months after, maybe 2 years after? I dont know…. What about now so that other parent will not make the same mistake?
      But wait… no, never from your logic dont ever tell them, leave them let they continue making the same mistake over and over because persons like you are there to support them and blame police…. Keep it up, great job mr. Defender

    • Again, maybe the grown women you know need to be told “try not to get raped.” Not the grown women I know.
      And I believe the police’s job is to enforce the law. And that’s what I would gauge their effectiveness on.
      I do not share your obsession with the personal lives of victims.

    • And because of your thinking and others who think like you…
      The killing will never stop… Expect more soon… Lord help us

    • For a second, I asked myself what your “thinking” might lead to. But I think that might be a misuse of the word eh. Thanks for the feedback Kenroy. 😉

    • I pray and hope that you don’t practice what you print when it comes to raising your children. Please tell me no

  7. The member for Toco , Mrs Jennings Smith was put in charge of specifically dealing with the gang problem in this country . I am waiting for the results .

  8. It will never change as long as d corrupted ppl stay rich an d gud ppl stay poor

  9. How long, oh Lord, how long will the wicked continue to reign in T&T? Shall we ever be able to rein them in? What is the prognosis for this country of rampant banditry and bungling?

    Maybe God is a Trini and he will send an earthquake or a hurricane or some other catastrophe to wipe the slate clean and give our children a chance at a future that does not look unrelentingly black…

  10. Why someone else must pay the ultimate price for another persons actions so sad only the almighty father knows

  11. I was n still is being begged to get out from this place cause things will escalate!! An advice I am truly taking! The way how things looking is kill or be killed.

  12. One question … what is the detection rate for murder?

  13. 18 months and 600 plus murders. ..we jammin still. …20000 people lost jobs we jammin still. ..thank god we get back we country. ..Great is the PNM. …

  14. I cannot recall a crime being solved in Trinidad for more than 20 years now…. not one….Now we just wait for the next one sad to say that’s the state of ?? .

  15. That’s the Question, a million officers out for Carnival … now?

  16. I don’t know if this has been mentioned, but in the U.K. And USA, the worse thing you can do is kill a cop. That makes it a personal crime against all police. It starts to get nasty. If you are a cop killer, if you get caught, it ain’t nice. And you receive a harsh penalty from the judge. And then it gets worse, coz no prison officer is gonna care about you. You get put in the special offenders wing along with the paedophiles and gays. But that ain’t safe either coz some guy will jump yuh ass. So can we expect to see a huge effort by the ordinary officers to avenge one of their own? Or will it just be a pretty funeral with lots of uniforms with brass buttons? If the police don’t care enough to protect their own, then God help T&T.

  17. God is boss when cain kill abel wat happen .her body mus raise

  18. We keep talking about the police. Yes, they have to do a better job solving these crimes. The major discussion in my view is a conversation with the men of TT. What is it about the men in our society that creates this high propensity for violence against women. Men have to start confronting their brothers and friends and neighbors and hold them to better behavior . This nonsense can’t continue and the police can’t be in all the bedrooms. It look like women have to be careful who enter their bedroom (according to the advice the big man gave them), but they have to get police escort in their bedrooms also. Our men are the biggest issue in these crimes

    • This is the best comment I have seen on this thread. Thank you for getting to the root of the problem. Some people seem to think women as a whole are at fault for being victims of violence.

  19. Any murder is one too many, We just can’t seem to contain the number of murders in the country, However we cannot just throw our hands in the air in despair. All the perpetrators of crime were raised by someone, taught by someone, possibly loved by someone, and definitely influenced by someone. We all have to do our part to arrest this menace, which has fully entrenched itself in our society. We cannot justifiably compare our life at that age to the life of someone the same age now.
    Things have changed dramatically. There must be positive change in all pockets of the society. Law enforcement officials, teachers, religious leaders, neighbours, politicians, mentors. Counselling services and the list can go on and on.

    • I hear and understand the frustration of citizens. As they say, you can make the child, but you can’t make their mind. In this case, the father of one of the persons of interest made sure his son turned himself in. Also in the case of the young woman who went to meet the guy about a job, his father also made him turn himself in, albeit belatedly. Maybe if crimestoppers/media/TTPS continue to highlight missing/murdered persons, new info may come to light as case is cold and ppl may feel more comfortable. We know about the elephant in the room syndrome, that is, everybody knows but nobody knows.

  20. The suspect has to be released, by law they have 48 hours to hold and charge him. If no charges, then he has to be released, and re-arrested when they can charge him

  21. They will hold him again tomorrow in connection with some missing keys in Priztung

  22. TRINIDAD MUST BE THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE BLIMPING WORLD WHERE IT IS SO EASY FOR A KILLER TO COMMIT MURDER AND GO HOME AND SLEEP LIKE A BABY…

  23. Shannon Banfield…has that police file reached the DPP YET??!

  24. So is the verdict still that “normal people” have nothing to fear?

  25. Such a Pretty Woman with her whole life ahead of her but some Scumbag had to take it away. All the more reason that we know they not ready to deal with the crime situation and to the innocent ones keep a Burner close as to defend yourself.

  26. That is so sad d police need to get this man RIP .

  27. .i remembered d days as a member of d protective services ,,,no body would not of taken God out of their thoughts or mind and think about harming a member of d service ,,,things have gotten worse ,,,RIP wpc Joesph

  28. Sorry for her an her family
    But god don’t sleep 99% of police in racket an the other 1% just as worst cause they kno an says nothing

  29. Look at this child her mother milk still her face what ah thing meekly wait and mermanot vengeance is mine dust said the lord

  30. Lasana, the news of today has put me in a funky mood.. musically, this song is on replay.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq3c69H2iRk

  31. Bodies pile up at the morgue with negative results while the horse and pony show continues with this government and hailed Ag COP sad state of affairs

  32. Sadly as a citizen I have accepted that the only thing I may have some control over is how I live. But if I must die at the hand of a criminal may I be blessed to take him with me…

  33. Thing to cry bout, you making joke with! The only thing that could stop crime in this country is if we start ketching criminals and persecuting them. But to catch the criminals would take a total overhaul of the police service. We need some CSI shit and some energetic people to investigate.

  34. How politicians were gonna prevent this crime?

    • Nobody said they could stop this crime. What they need to do is create an environment that is very uncomfortable for people who chose a life of crime. That is what was promised.
      Has it been delivered?

    • Nope it hasnt…

      But this a generation who doesnt fear death nor care about dying…

      Prevention is better than cure we many years late and if we dont address the storm cominf up in primary and secondary school we will continue to be.

      But where d media?

      No one asking the pertinent questions?

      How come? Why? How d police dropped the ball badly? Or did someone let one slip?

      Heh

    • It is hard to tell if this generation fraid police when they are not being charged and convicted though. When we start doing that, we can gauge the results and see what comes next.

    • It eh hard to gauge when u working in the sector…fellas out here do not care…there is a greater chance of them being killed in gang warfare than by Police…the chances are spectacular…if they do not fear that you expect them to fear jail? Come nah man. When you talk to men they expect to dead and going down hard.

    • Then we have to meet their expectations yes.

  35. Blaming politicians is a cop out. They deserve part of the blame no doubt. But we the people also have a share in that blame. We who pay to get our business fix in licensing office and else where. We who see our co-workers taking bribe and doh say nuttin. Criminals are to blame for crime….but who do we blame for creating criminals.

    • And we are to blame for allowing the people who are supposed to design and implement policy to handle crime to get away with not delivering results…
      But then that does point to some culpability by politicians and lawmen doesn’t it?
      We get a government we deserve and we also get a police service we deserve. Neither really excuses them though.

    • Lasana Liburd Most of us interact with our elected officials only at the ballot box. That is the only time we let them know if we are happy with their performance or not. We vote for someone, or more realistically a set of stereotypes and then sit by and throw our hands up as they do what they want. I myself do not know what we can do in the interim to hold them accountable. We need a more effective strategy than ranting on Facebook.
      For the most part I think the politicians are doing what they think is ‘best’. I’m an optimist in that sense. There are more than a few who are there for themselves and their financiers too. What is ‘best’ looks different depending on where you sit though.
      I’m glad you are there to shine the light.

    • Very poignant Eron. This feeling of frustration without anyway to vent is bound to explode eventually. And I hope it is channeled constructively when it does come.
      Step one is we need to understand the problem. Then look for what standing in the way of a solution. When we agree on those two things, we will be closer to an action I hope.

    • Licence office running on auto pilot dred….no minister ent fixing that problem…..yuh feel they dont know what goes on there….

    • Mothers should not get all the blame though….there’s enough blame to spread around!

  36. These dummies we have sitting in Parliament are all clueless and should do the honourable thing and resign. Crime escalating and no action from those responsible.People losing their jobs daily and the Labour Minister says she is dealing with the issue of job loss . This Minister needs to have her head examined. She says one thing and does the opposite.The Unions are now ready to rumble after they slept with the PNM expecting things to always work in thier favour,. No progress in this place for the past 18 months and billions of dollars being spent. We are heading down a very slippery slope fast. Blame kamla

    • Why you in hush ass ,crime was taking place under unc the same blasted way and you all was comfortable with it ,now you want to open your mouth and talk because is not Unc in power. ..shame on you….

    • Every day people is being sent home…..

    • Dave Sorillo Have a good evening. You seem to be very sensible

    • Would love to hear the option…..cuz Kamla aint it!! And will NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER be it!

    • Trinidadians ass to happy….stand together for nothing….

    • Dave you are a c**t …..no one said crime didnt occur under the UNC……but it has sky rocketed since the pnm came into power…..no doubt about that…..try and face the truth and stop pushing your head up your ass cause that wont solve the issue……the pnm has fucked this country so good it will take us decades to ever be a paradise again……thanks to rowley and his brain dead cabinet…….grrrrrrrr

    • Andy u should be quiet… Crime will happen no matter what party is in power.. Pnm unc cop it doesn’t matter.. You think the people who commit care??? News flash they don’t just bent on wickedness.. No government has any control over the actions or activities of its citizens… None can stop someone from killing someone for the various reasons that they do.. This is not Pnm or unc or cop or any political parties country.. It’s ours all of us.. We all need to help in trying to curb the crime.. No one knows when or why these things happen.. Its frustrating hearing all these foolish comments about the government.. When it’s people who live among US who do these acts and governments get the blame as if they know or send them out to do these things.. SMH

      • No, Marlon, sensible people don’t blame the government for letting the crimes take place; what we blame the govt for is letting the criminals do what they do WITH IMPUNITY.

        We can’t reasonably expect govt or anyone to do anything about SOME crimes before they take place. But is it unreasonable to expect them to do something about it AFTER it has taken place, something like make a serious effort to catch the criminal(s) and occasionally succeed in so doing?

    • Andy, No need to get personal, is there? Especially as you are so wrong. It was NOT the PNM that stopped the OPV’s and disbanded SAUTT and put Reshmi to head the spy unit, was it?

      I know your answer: Those were not the things that caused crime to get out of hand.

      Yeah, right. And there is no global warming either.

    • Blame yourself what are you doing about it ,right now you are committing a crime by being illeterate

  37. Work on fixing poverty, that will put a dent in the crime wave.

    • Mario how can you fix poverty when people are being sent home every day.

    • Rich ppl commit crime might not be murder but white color crime trickle down to the murder of the small man in the hood

    • Well said Mr Frederick Junior Sterling alot of us refuse to see this , other than the low level worst than rubbish pests who tries to get rich via having a block or doing hits an robberies .

    • I never said it would stop crime, I said it would put a dent, most of the crimes in trinidad are motivated by financial gain/ lack of finances… of course there are exceptions to this but we can’t ignore that the everyday killings are done by the poor…. “best way to stop a bullet is with a JOB”.

    • Best to work at both ends Mario. You try to give people something productive to do while, at the same time, making things difficult for people who chose a life of crime.
      I don’t know that we are doing either thing.

    • Lasana, you do realise there are some people who are just not willing to go out and find something productive to do, right? I know of one family, one house divided into 2 apartments, who was robbed in two weeks. One was a Monday morning, the bandits made off with $10K, the second time, the young couple with a 1 year old baby robbed of small amt of cash, jewellery and phones – inside their house. On both occasions, they tied them up. These are people from the neighbourhood, they live in the drug dens close by, known to the police and nothing became of those two incidents. Apparently, this happens in the neghbourhood every monday, so I wonder if they think this is work or wuk. People will start taking the law into their own hands, then we know we’ve reach failed status…it’s not far off.

    • It’s scary. The police doesn’t even pretend to be interested in some districts it would seem. I don’t get what is happening.
      The Ag COP should be explaining what is happening to us. But I think his time has passed and nobody believes in him anymore.

    • Job or no job ….Crime continues to flourish…..Many criminals don’t want to work …..Low detection rate and an even lower prosecution rate…… The police allows gang members to kill out other warring gangs and write it off as gang related or drug related
      The Minister’s of nat security are impotent and CAN’T stop criminals and drug runners…

  38. Most of us have no illusions. We know what we have all around man. By the way, you may want to add security for fetes as another job the police do well..smh

  39. And some dingleberry is going to call for a day/week of prayer…

  40. Murder! Murder! Violence take ah next one ahreddy! Violence take ah next one ahreddy!!!
    When will it end?

    I might be waxing lyrical while channelling Kurt Allen but we are circling the drain with the swirls speeding up! Can we get it together? Take the bull by the horns and start to address many of our problems in a meaningful manner? Or are we just plodding along meretriciously to another sweet, sizzling summer of blissful/wilful ignorance?

  41. Another young life snuffed out

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