Anna-Lisa Paul
Senior Reporter
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has declared that she is standing firmly behind Commissioner of Police (CoP) Allister Guevarro, praising him and the national security agencies for keeping their promise to ensure yesterday’s Independence Day celebrations were “awesome.”
“This Government and this Prime Minister stand firmly in your corner,” Persad-Bissessar assured Guevarro and his officers.
Speaking at a toast to the nation hosted by Guevarro at the Police Administration Building, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, Persad-Bissessar said she was “very heartened” by the work done by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service and the protective services, particularly as serious crime, including murders, had fallen.
“The data is very clear. There has been a drastic drop in serious crimes, and we can only improve.”
She said she was optimistic that there was always room for improvement, and insisted, “The police posts will take us further, and of course, we have more legislation to come shortly.”
With Parliament set to reconvene in what she claimed was “a very short space of time,” Persad-Bissessar said the Government is working legislatively and administratively with the ground forces to ensure the nation’s security.
Pointing to the ongoing recruitment drives by the TTPS and the Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service (TTPrS), she said, “We will get more human resources there.”
Yesterday’s praise came against the backdrop of a series of bomb threats over the last two weeks – with the latest unverified threat coming late on Friday.
Responding briefly to questions following the toast, the Prime Minister smiled broadly as she said, “I think it was an awesome celebration.”
Having attended many such celebrations, she went on to say, “I believe it is one of the best I’ve seen.”
Thanking God and the protective services namely the TTPS, TTPrS, the T&T Fire Service (TTFS), the T&T Defence Force (TTDF), and all other agencies that worked together to ensure the day’s planned activities came off without any hiccups, she particularly thanked Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander and Defence Minister Wayne Sturge, along with the rest of the Cabinet for “participating in the prep for it.”
On the issue of inclusion and what reassurance she could extend to non-supporters of the ruling party, she said, “We work together with all those who are willing to work.”
She pledged, “We will not be daunted. We will not step back. We will continue to fight against those criminals and the evil elements in our society and put up our fate in the hands of the Lord, but we will not give up.”
Switching gears slightly when asked about how soon the police posts would become operational, the PM echoed an earlier response by the Homeland Security Minister that it would be “soon.”
She said, “I want to make sure that everything is working well, so when open it, you’re not coming to ask me why is the water not running or why is the electricity not…so soon, we will have them soon.”
However, she side-stepped the question on how much the police posts were costing, indicating she had answered enough already.
Delivering remarks before the toast, Persad-Bissessar claimed, “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
She reinforced the mandate that had been handed to Guevarro when he assumed office, which was to get violent crime, which had seen new historical records being set with 629 murders in a single year, down.
She claimed that between January 2025 to present, there had been 400 fewer murders than were projected to occur, “Due to the great efforts of the rough men and women of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.”
She said the efforts of national security had resulted in over 400 citizens being alive today.
Focusing on the price it had cost officers, she said, “While most people run away from danger and death, you all run towards both to neutralise threats and save people who will never know the names of those who saved them.”
She added, “You all risk your lives every day and sometimes lose lives in the line of duty while serving the public.”
Not forgetting the support systems behind these officers, she acknowledged, “Behind every police officer is a family who lives in constant uncertainty every time you walk out of your homes to do your duty.
“Your parents, spouses, children, and other loved ones carry the emotional burden of your job, living with the constant worry about whether you will return safely.’
She said daily personal, physical, and emotional sacrifices were made to protect the citizenry, resulting in missed family time, work holidays, weekends, birthdays, celebrations and anniversaries so that others could enjoy those same occasions in peace.
“Most citizens will also never understand the severe mental, emotional, and physical tolls of regularly witnessing trauma, violence, and human suffering,” she said.
Prime Minister repeated statistics provided by the TTPS that there had been a 42 per cent reduction in murders in 2025 when compared to 2024—with the homicide figure at the lowest since 2011.
With woundings and shootings falling from 523 to 298, and robberies declining from 1,636 to 876, for the same period—Persad-Bissessar said gains had also been made in the area of road safety, with fatal road traffic accidents falling by 31 per cent, and serious injuries by 35 per cent and minor injuries by 33 per cent.
“These figures demonstrate that the strategies being implemented are working, and that the TTPS is regaining control of public safety.
She added, “I know the unwarranted criticism, misinformation and abuse from cowardly men and women who cower and flee at the sight of danger sometimes hurt and frustrate you.”
But she encouraged, “Ignore them; they can never step in your shoes to fulfil your roles. When faced with abuse and denigration from those who don’t appreciate you, always remember I respect you, I appreciate you, and I love you.”
Guevarro: Are we living up to the 1962 promise?
In his welcome remarks yesterday, Guevarro reflected on the successes and failures that Trinidad and Tobago had endured since becoming an independent nation in 1962.
Indicating it had been hard-fought for by generations of Trinbagonians who had come together to embrace one another in spite of ethnicity, faith and tradition, the Commissioner said the same question was asked every year, “Are we living up to what we promised ourselves in 1962?”
Insisting the TTPS was no longer a police force, he said the deliberate post-independence shift away from colonial, militaristic masters.
He insisted the TTPS was about service and that, “Independence in policing should not be measured by who commands the police service.
“It must be measured by the kind of police service we have built.”
Pushing officers to do some introspection, he asked, “Can we do what is required of us to keep this country safe?”
Admitting that “trust” was the real currency of policing in a free society, Guevarro said, “Without it, we are simply an authority, and with it, we are a service.”
Earning it, he said, was not the work of the CoP alone, but the work of every officer on every shift.
Alexander calls for national unity
Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander reminded those present that they had a duty to teach the next generation how to take the country forward.
Saluting the hierarchy of the TTPS, he too reflected on the loss and challenges being an officer sometimes brought.
He said, “I often wish that one day, we will not have to be going through all of this and we can all live in unity together, as a people, when we don’t see race, we don’t see creed, all we see is people.”
