Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs yesterday said the Police Service was on a drive to ensure that officers do the right thing and maintain the public trust. Gibbs was speaking at the daily news conference at the Police Administration Building, Port-of-Spain. This was the commissioner's first appearance at the conference in the past few weeks. His remarks concerned the shooting deaths of Allana Duncan, 27, of Duncan Village, San Fernando; Kerron Eccles, 29, of Moruga Main Road, Moruga; and Abigail Johnson, 20, of Burton Trace, Moruga, who were shot dead on July 22.
Yesterday, seven officers appeared before a Port-of-Spain magistrate charged with their murders. "Arising out of this unfortunate incident the police mounted an investigation and at the conclusion the DPP gave instructions they go before the court to answer the charges," Gibbs said. He described the incident as tragic and assured citizens police officers were hard working, dedicated and put their lives at risk to protect and serve the population. "I want to assure the public that the service is doing all in its power to ensure and maintain the public's trust and committed to policing ourselves. This incident affects all of us," Gibbs said. He also offered his condolences to the bereaved families.
Gibbs said the accused officers were treated fairly and were not mistreated by their colleagues. "They were not mistreated. We took into consideration that they were officers and were treated well," he added. Gibbs said there had been other reports of officers involved in alleged wrongdoing and those investigations were ongoing. "We want to assure that the reports are being investigated thoroughly," he said. Meanwhile, Gibbs said the state of emergency had led to a decrease in serious crimes. "It has been a success which speaks for itself and there has been a decrease in the crime level since 1990. It is an opportunity to locate people who were wanted on different charges and to gather intelligence and bring people in," he said.
When asked if the Police Service could maintain the decrease after the state of emergency, he said:
"It will finish at some point and we have the opportunity to build strategies so we don't see a resurgence in crime. "We can contain some of the crime. That is our main concern. We have developed a crime plan at this stage and we are confident we can move forward." He said the service met with various stakeholders who could assist in crime control. In addition, Gibbs said it was necessary to hold the daily conference to keep the media informed of events.
