“To those law abiding citizens who have been skeptical of this decision made, it is my intention to win over your trust and support in the very near future. “To those within the Service who may also share concerns, I assure you, I am well aware that I can never …
Read More »Dear Editor: Cockroaches, gun talk, and mamaguy; Griffith as Police Commissioner would be a travesty
“[…] Gary Griffith is not unknown to us. What is unknown, is the justification for this claim that he is a ‘change agent’. How has Mr Griffith’s presence in public life enhanced life in the Republic? “For those who argue that Mr Griffith has the passion and the drive to …
Read More »Dear Editor: Racist, dehumanising language and militarised approach to crime will make things worse
“There’s no serious analysis of the observation—that even the Acting Commissioner of Police once made—that ‘crime’ is as much a social issue as it is a law-enforcement/security issue. “No, it’s easier to use words like ‘pest’ and ‘cockroaches’, strip the criminalised elements of their humanity—which they themselves often do as …
Read More »Dear Editor: Citizens deserve “Imbert Treatment” too; time to address class and race bias in T&T
“There is a large body of sociological and psychological evidence that explains that peoples’ experiences with law enforcement personnel are affected by factors such as race, colour, class and status. “Is it that Minister Colm Imbert and TTPS public relations personnel want us to believe that this does not happen …
Read More »Dear Editor: Did Police act lawfully to find Imbert’s phone? And what about other victims of crime?
“Is the prostitution of the police by the political directorate such that the police are only animated to act effectively when a Minister of Government is affected by crime? The country ravaged by criminal activities including brutal killings have not seen similar alacrity by the police to solve these crimes that …
Read More »Daly Bread: We dance to survive; Rosa Guy’s score and our Police Service’s fail
At the end of this column I will adopt the words of a recent editorial in the Trinidad Express newspaper on violent crime even as the murderers, whom we have undoubtedly empowered, laugh in our faces. Meanwhile, I have been dwelling on the richness of our culture and its potential …
Read More »Daly Bread: Giving us a 4 for an A; more trouble in the Judiciary
In parts of the Caribbean, including here in Trinidad and Tobago, fooling someone is referred to as “giving a six for a nine.” Last week, a High Court Judge was arrested and charged with—as it is popularly known—driving under the influence. After his court appearance, it was reported that the …
Read More »Daly Bread: Assault with a deadly weapon; how privilege and connections impede justice
Within the last fortnight, the deadly weapons of privilege or perceptions of privilege in our socially fractured islands have again been assaulting us, albeit in very different contexts. The High Court gave a judgement in which the State, not for the first time, was ordered to pay damages to two …
Read More »The Grand Bizarre Shooting; Live Wire reviews worst shooting since Raheem Sterling against Man Utd
In what may go down as the Grand Bizarre Shooting, two fully armed policemen with personal scores to settle fired shots at each other from point-blank range outside the Ruby Tuesday restaurant on Wednesday night. “I thought I was dreaming; this could not be happening right before my eyes,” one …
Read More »Dear Editor: How sloppy policing contributes to violent domestic deaths
“This friend has a protection order against her brother, whose behaviour is becoming increasingly unpredictable. She told me that she had been to the police station to report yet another round of threats from him and informed—or reminded—the police of the protection order. “The officer in charge of the station …
Read More »SALAAM: Talk yuh talk, Madam President; but when will T&T see the light? When will the wicked no longer reign?
In a powerful and moving maiden address to the nation she now heads, newly installed President Paula-Mae Weekes urged us all to “…confront the darkness and declare that it will not take over.” I wonder about her tense. From early boyhood, I have repeatedly heard that what is to is must …
Read More »Living Law: CoP vs DSD & Anor; why La Brea massacre victims can have their own ‘Pratt and Morgan’
If you are wondering why, as a Trinidad and Tobago citizen, I choose to highlight the case of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis v DSD & Anor [2018] UKSC 11 (DSD) coming out of the United Kingdom, the reason is simple. This case has basically turned the concept of …
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