Tag Archives: police killings

The following letter to the editor was submitted to Wired868 by Kirk Waithe, the political leader of the Nationwide Organisation of We the People (NOW): It’s been six months since Andrew ‘Solo’ Morris was brutally beaten by officers of the Special Operations Response Team (SORT)—a unit within the Police Service …

A discerning reader, well experienced in the issue of diversity, responded with appreciation to last week’s column dealing with police profiling of a certain socio-economic class. The message asserted that we should say Akiel Chambers’ name when we say the names of Duante Wright and other fatally-profiled victims currently in …

Daunte (pronounced Dante) Wright, aged 20, is the latest black man to be killed by a white police officer in the United States. The matter that first drew the attention of the police to him was minor. A questionable explanation has been given for the shooting of Daunte. The police …

‘[…] In this latest video, plainclothes police officers are seen dumping one body in the back of the marked police SUV, and then dragging the other body and unceremoniously dumping that body on top of the other. How in heavens name can any wounded suspect survive a journey to the …

The revelation that Joel Balcon had been charged with 70 criminal counts remains a scandalous indictment of this country. But where in the system is the blame to fall?  In the Express of 4 February, Anna Ramdass reported an interview with an unidentified attorney who said he had previously represented …

When Trinidad and Tobago is boiling over with trouble and nonsense, as it is currently, my Freeport compere says to me ‘topic, topic, topic’. So where to focus this week’s column? Should I comment further on the Tobago House of Assembly (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to break the six-six electoral …

Distressingly amid the national uproar over our women’s ill-treatment and murders, we gravitate to accepting a ‘macho’ solution that wreaks violence upon those who threaten us.  We should reflect on how likely this path would take us to our desired goal of safety for all, particularly our women. Will we …

Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith, in his trademark rhetoric, responded to concerns expressed by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Senator David Nakhid about the deaths of Andrew ‘Solo’ Morris and Joel Belcon while in police custody with personal attacks today, via a Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) release. Griffith …

“[…] These reports put into question the accuracy of the explanation given by the police for Mr Morris’ death in police custody, that he fell off a chair, and give rise to the obvious need for the institution of a prompt, thorough and independent criminal investigation into the possible homicide …

“[…] It has already been proven around the world that body cams work two ways: to protect the citizenry from false arrests, charges or death; and to protect the officers from false accusations.  “Time and time again, when questioned about the absence of body cameras, the CoP—in his usual rambling, …

“[…] I understand the pain and anguish that the friends and relatives of the murdered girl, Andrea Bharatt, must feel. “[…] But we have the deaths of two men, whose fates have to be examined. In real life, vigilante justice is an incredibly slippery slope that we as a society should …

“[…] On the fateful day, the Guard and Emergency Branch not only moved the bodies but also picked up spent shells, wrecked the vehicle and left the scene bare—as if nothing happened there 15 minutes ago. It left the crime scene investigators with almost nothing to work with when they …