“[…] More recently, the Opposition Leader suggested that, should her party form the next government, all off-duty police and prison officers will be issued licensed firearms provided by the State. There are an estimated 7,000 police officers and over 3,000 prison officers in the country. “Let us, therefore, be very …
Read More »Dear Editor: Why more FULs are likelier to mean increased violence—not safety
“[…] Over the last five months, four law enforcement officers were involved in incidents with their licensed firearms. Three of these were robberies in which two of the officers lost their lives. “The fourth, also resulting in the death of an officer, stemmed from an argument. Two firearms were stolen …
Read More »Vaneisa: Proposed crime solutions like “stand your ground” out of touch with reality
Within a few days of dismantling his family home across the street, Bob began rebuilding. First was the painstaking task of cutting down the two prodigious trees that had generously donated their fruit for decades. With ropes and a saw—the power generated by his hands—the branches came down one by …
Read More »Dear Editor: Gary Griffith got it all wrong once again on licensed firearms
“[…] Clearly, a licensed firearm issued during the period that Mr Gary Griffith was CoP was used to commit the crime of murder, by an individual (Mr Mohammed) who was also granted four additional FULs. “[…] Why allow one individual to possess five (legal) firearms? How many can he use at any one …
Read More »Dear Editor: How to stop crime: overhaul criminal justice system and beef up death penalty
“[…] We should seek to establish an advisory committee comprising of eminent jurists and law enforcement officials from some [foreign] jurisdictions (possibly a five-member panel) to undertake a comprehensive review of our existing laws and other measures/practices in our criminal justice system. “[…] Accordingly, all crimes related to the illegal importation …
Read More »Dear Editor: What would be cost in blood of Dr Deyalsingh’s plea to arm “the citizenry”?
“Dr Varma Deyalsingh has suggested ‘arming the citizenry’ with guns when he addressed the 3rd Sitting of the Senate […] on 13 October 2022… He was cursorily cautious to include with ‘proper checks and balances’. Knowing what those proper checks and balances would be and how to keep them ‘proper’ …
Read More »Daly Bread: “Stay safe”—T&T’s collective vulnerability to violent crime; and the need for national archiving
For the last two weeks I have focused on how successive governments—PNM and UNC, or UNC-led—miserably failed us in providing the equipment and specially trained personnel capable of detecting and interdicting illegal firearms importation through the legal ports. We now have an unqualified acknowledgment from McDonald Jacob, the acting commissioner …
Read More »Daly Bread: Pennywise manifestations; OSHA should consider safety of security guards
On Monday last there was another terrifying incident of gun killings in which high powered firearms were used. This took place around 5pm, in the vicinity of the Pennywise Plaza, La Romaine, in the course of an armed robbery of cash in transit. This Pennywise incident contains many manifestations of …
Read More »Daly Bread: Are the malls becoming crime hot spots? T&T’s state of anxiety is growing
Two ladies in the early afternoon—to which we refer colloquially as after lunch—park a vehicle in an area, not isolated from one of its entrances, and enter a shopping mall. An hour later, as they are exiting the mall, they see a man standing adjacent to their vehicle. They have …
Read More »Two robbers and a coast guardsman walk into a bar; the case of the thwarted hold-up
Scene: COSTAATT campus. In an effort to spice up its media programme, the tertiary level school has hired Mr Live Wire to teach “Principles of Journalism” to students and would-be journalists. The class is in session… Live Wire: Okay, class, so today we are going to look at a real-life …
Read More »Raucous in Rio: Cleo flummoxes Felix, Njisane rides out and Hope-less USA team
Trinidad and Tobago had a bittersweet time in Rio today as track and field events and indoor cycling got underway at the 2016 Olympic Games. Cycling sprint star Njisane “J-Boy” Phillip roared through the preliminary round but failed to match his 2012 accomplishment of a place in the semifinal while …
Read More »All ah we dead: Raffique Shah says citizens caught in crossfire between police and thief
I had planned not to address crime in my columns; to waste space on an issue that, while it grows grimmer by the day, is seemingly intractable. When last I tackled it, I admitted to having become inured to the barbarism into which the nation has descended. Decapitation, mutilation, suffocation …
Read More »