Senior Reporter
Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles has criticised Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, accusing her of “abdication of responsibility” in the wake of a violent weekend that has shaken Trinidad and Tobago.
In a statement yesterday, Beckles said the Prime Minister attempted to “downplay and distance herself from the Government’s poor handling of a national crime crisis,” raising concerns about her leadership at a time of national grief.
“The Prime Minister has failed to recognise the hurt and pain of the nation, showing a lack of love, empathy, compassion, care and understanding in the wake of a bloody weekend,” Beckles said.
Beckles pointed to a series of incidents, including the murder of WPC Anusha Eversley at the San Fernando Municipal Police Station, the theft of more than 60 firearms from the station, and the killing of four people, including a nine-year-old child in a separate incident in Morvant, as evidence of a deepening crisis.
“The killing of a police officer and the theft of over 60 firearms is not a ‘municipal issue’. It represents a national security crisis,” she said, adding that attempts to distinguish between the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) and the Municipal Police amounted to deflection.
“The country does not need technical explanations or deflections. It needs answers, action, and a clear plan,” Beckles added.
She also insisted the Government must take responsibility and present a credible strategy to address crime.
“Where is the love from the Prime Minister, as the nation is in mourning for an innocent nine-year-old child, a police officer murdered in a police station, reports of mass illegal burials, missing firearms, and a deepening national crime crisis? The Prime Minister is failing to lead the nation and has chosen to distract rather than address these issues.”
Also contacted yesterday, Seventh Day Adventist pastor and former Police Service Commission member Clive Dottin warned that the country is edging dangerously close to collapse if urgent action is not taken.
Dottin, who said he personally knew Eversley and had officiated at her brother’s funeral, described the situation as “brutal, cruel and bizarre.”
“This is a major cause for alarm; we are bordering on a state of anarchy in the country,” he said.
He pointed to the breach of the San Fernando station as a shocking failure of institutional security, taking aim at rogue police officers.
“I have said for the past, more than the past two decades, that until and unless we deal with rogue elements in the police service, in the army, in the prison service, our fight against crime will be neutralised. I want to repeat that in our security agencies, unless we root out the Judases, that is what I want to say, the Judases in our security agencies, we are going nowhere in the fight against crime.”
However, Dottin was particularly emphatic on the issue of a curfew, arguing that the current State of Emergency is incomplete without it.
“I always have a problem with a state of emergency without a curfew. To my mind, it provides space and opportunity for individuals to operate on the dark side,” he said.
Referencing the weekend’s violence, Dottin said Government should now seriously reconsider its position.
“Based on this weekend, I would advise the Prime Minister and the National Security Council to look carefully at whether the time has come to introduce a curfew. You give an extra punch to counterpunch the criminality when a curfew is included in the State of Emergency package, that is my view and will always be my view,” he added.
Beyond the curfew, Dottin called for a three-pronged approach: the creation of a trusted task force to root out rogue elements in the police, army and prison services; stronger collaboration among national stakeholders and urgent efforts to disrupt gang recruitment among young people.
IRO backs firm action
Inter-Religious Organisation president Dr Ellis Burris yesterday expressed concern about the developments, describing them as a deviation from the moral and spiritual values the organisation promotes.
“This is not a good example to the community at all, we encourage respect, good judgement and high moral and spiritual values,” Burris said.
While he did not take a definitive position on a curfew, Burris indicated that the IRO would support measures taken by Government if they are in the country’s best interest.
“If that will bring the best to the country, we give the Government all clearance to go forward with what they have to do to improve the condition of the country,” he said.
Criminologist urges caution
Meanwhile, criminologist Dr Randy Seepersad urged restraint in how the public interprets the police station breach, cautioning against generalising blame across the Municipal Police Service.
“We have to be very, very careful of casting any aspersions at all on the municipal police as a whole,” he said, noting that officers receive similar training and vetting as their counterparts in the TTPS.
He stressed that alleged wrongdoing by a few individuals should not define the entire organisation.
“Not because one or two members did something extremely wrong, that doesn’t mean that the entire municipal police is suspect,” Seepersad said.
He also pointed to the swift recovery of some stolen weapons and the detention of several suspects, including officers, as evidence of an effective law enforcement response under pressure.
Seepersad further described the Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s statement as “adequate,” noting that it provided clarity and reassurance at a critical time.
“I think the Prime Minister has provided some much-needed information to the public, so I do appreciate you know, the Prime Minister’s statement and the Prime Minister’s openness with the public on this.”
On Sunday, Persad-Bissessar noted there was no need for a curfew following the killing of the police officer.
Persad-Bissessar said she had been advised the incident was not an external attack on the TTPS or other national security agencies. Instead, she said it was an “internal betrayal” within the Municipal Police Service.
The Prime Minister said the Ministry of Homeland Security and TTPS would provide full support to the municipal police service, San Fernando Mayor Robert Parris and the San Fernando City Corporation to investigate the matter and bring the situation to closure.
