Dear Editor: How long will T&T allow TTPS to insult our intelligence over non-use of bodycams?

“[…] It is nothing short of amazing how this current political directorate can go from conceptualization of 30 ‘police post’ to delivery, in a matter of days. Meanwhile, the issue of body cameras has been simmering on the back burners since Columbus’ arrival.

“Each time the topic comes up, we get another ‘nancy story’ from the heads of this dysfunctional organization…”

The following Letter to the Editor on the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service’s inability—or unwillingness—to enforce the use of body cameras by its officers was submitted to Wired868 by Rudy Chato Paul Sr of D’Abadie:

The issue of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) and its officers wearing body cameras has once again raised its head.

From the numerous responses over the years, the hierarchy at this organization must be convinced they are dealing with a totally illiterate population. After careful consideration and much deliberation on this body-cam matter, it is the only logical conclusion I can arrive at.

As a retired sociologist, and someone who pays particular attention to the issues facing Trinidad and Tobago, I have also concluded that the TTPS is responsible for the majority of issues in crime in this place.

I watched, as many of us did, where the murder rate went from 7.35 per 100,000 in 1999 to 37.8 per 100,000 in 2016; an increase of 475% (Adams, 2019). All under the same TTPS, with their politically selected decorations at the very top.

It is nothing short of amazing how this current political directorate can go from conceptualization of 30 “police post” to delivery, in a matter of days. Meanwhile, the issue of body cameras has been simmering on the back burners since Columbus’ arrival.

Each time the topic comes up, we get another “nancy story” from the heads of this dysfunctional organization.

We have had every excuse in the books from those appointees at the head of the TTPS. And each time the head changes, so does the narrative.

A former commissioner of police (CoP), Erla Christopher, told us as recent as 2024 that “officers are not following orders to wear the body cameras while on duty”.  I asked then, who was really running that organization?

One would think that the real function of body-cams is to provide a level of transparency and accountability. The resistance to wear them then, suggests that the officers do not wish the public to view their numerous encounters.

Their narrative remains the only one available. We know all too how that goes. The recent Joshua Samaroo murder is a prime example of cameras at work.

While the world watched the young man’s hands up and out the window, the spin doctors and the apologists for the TTPS, put their own spin on it and continue to try and paint a different picture. They went so far as to charge his female companion.

I shudder to imagine the public’s response if any police department in any part of “the developed world” had a similar kill-rate. Perhaps because I remember the Rodney King incident in LA from 1991; and more recently, the George Floyd incident, in 2020.

I have argued on many occasions and on several platforms that the crime rate in Trinidad and Tobago is a direct result of the behaviors of the TTPS.  When I do, I am immediately placed in the “cop hater” category.  What I absolutely hate is anyone, police or otherwise, seeking to insult my intelligence with gobar, dressed up in uniforms while hosting press conferences.

For over two decades, the issue of body-cams in the TTPS has been on the table.  Yet for reasons unexplained and unknown, it cannot seem to get off the ground.

This despite several assurances and promises from successive ministers of National Security, CoPs and others within the hierarchy in the Ministry of National Security (MoNS).

There was Stuart Young, as MoNS, who assured us that bodycams would be rolled out throughout the TTPS by March of 2019. There was Gary Griffith, as CoP, who told us that he “ordered” 1,000 in 2020, and 1,500 in 2022. Of course, ordered does not necessarily mean “delivered”.

Then there was Fitzgerald Hinds, as MoNS, who told us in March of 2022 that the TTPS had gotten 1,000 body cams. He also said they already had 160 functional, bringing the total to 1160.

When asked about the body cams, the response from Mr Big and Intelligent at Homeland Security was “we will work with what we have”. The CoP on the other hand said that the “battery life” on the bodycams in their possession was two hours.

And the question that comes to mind is: who was he brain surgeon that approved the multi-million dollar purchase of body cams for a police organization, with a battery life of two hours?

The function of body-cams in any situation is to add a sense of transparency and accountability from the organization where its use is required. That officers blatantly refuse to wear them, aided by those at the top with excuse after excuse, is beyond cause for concern.

That governments see it fit to write laws to address specific concerns, while ignoring the concerns of citizens is unacceptable. Refusals should end with dismissals.

Source: Ericka B Adams. “Police legitimacy in Trinidad and Tobago: resident perceptions in a high-crime community”. Journal of Crime and Justice (2019): 78-92. https://doi.org/10.1080/0735648X.2019.1582350.

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