Tag Archives: Ministry of National Security

“[…] When police officers disobey direct orders from superiors to wear body cameras, it is a serious breach of protocol and accountability. “[…] Police hierarchy should disclose when and why officers fail to wear body cams, especially during use-of-force incidents…” The following Letter to the Editor on the importance of …

“[…] The government must do more than offer condolences. It must fund, support, and scale the grassroots programmes already working. “It must empower community leaders like Uncle Keron, coaches like Wayne Sheppard, and academies like Arima Araucans and Trendsetter Hawks who are giving these boys structure, purpose, and belief. “These …

It is folly for us to be absorbed with the issue of the sniper rifles and not address the more significant problem of crime. The rifles are not missing. Our appreciation of how much our security forces are struggling with the criminal developments that plague us is our business. The …

“In the way of the world, things happen. As one writer previously wrote, ‘there is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face…” Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds, Express, 5 July 2024. The preening, self-important Minister Hinds evidently did not recognise that he was quoting Macbeth and …

The Roman Emperor, Nero, is said to have fiddled while Rome burned. His alleged conduct passed into common parlance to mean “not dealing with a difficult or dangerous situation but instead doing useless things or pretending nothing is wrong”. In our current situation, fiddling with runaway violent crime includes the …

After two weeks in Trinidad waiting for the green light to join his soon-to-be international teammates, 17-year-old England-born footballer Rio Cardines thought he finally got the breakthrough to represent the country of his grandfather, Patrick Cardines. All he needed was a signature from Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds that …

“[…] 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 …

I am frequently drawn by the direct and uninhibited language of fellow Trinidad Express columnist Joanne Paul. In her commentary last Monday, Dr Paul treated with our massive diabetes problem. Interestingly, from my perspective, she came to the conclusion that it was time to acknowledge the truth.   ‘Things are …

Trinidad and Tobago did not buy ‘cat in bag’ when we hired Mr Gary Griffith. We knew full well what to expect.  In October 2015, then Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon reported on his predecessor’s bid to purchase armoured vehicles for the police service:  ‘Unknown to the PS and …

Two former ministers were on Tuesday presented with their Instruments of Appointment to serve at Trinidad and Tobago’s overseas missions. They were among a group of five new heads of mission who received their credentials from Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Senator the Honourable Dr Amery Browne. Lovell Francis, …

In 2016, our country was the western world’s highest per capita supplier of recruits for the ISIS campaign in the Middle East. We are among the world’s most violent nations, with an average annual murder rate of 32.9 per 100,000 inhabitants(from 2009–2018). Refugees and trafficking complicate our lives. These trends …

It is clear now that the pandemic began to get the better of us in March and April and succeeded in surging to almost overwhelming proportions in the just concluded month of May. Although prematurely boastful, we appeared to have done well in restraining the advance of the pandemic for …