With the high-profile murder of acting Superintendent of Prisons Wayne Jackson and three others overnight on Tuesday, National Security Minister Stuart Young has admitted that the scourge of criminality continuing at a pace that is unacceptable.
But Young gave the assurance that there will be a renewed and rejuvenated effort by the police who will also be part of a new joint Inter-Agency Task Force of all law enforcement agencies, including the T&T Defence Force, SSA, intelligence agencies and the T&T Prison Service.
Young said he has been provided with information on the latest murders by the Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith and in some cases, other arms of agencies.
“There is no doubt that Trinidad and Tobago right now is fighting a scourge of crime. I have to say and I’ve been very cautious I haven’t said it before, that there has actually been a reduction in the number of homicides within the past couple of months,” Young said.
He, however, added that this is not something they are celebrating or even talking about. Rather, he assured that they will continue to utilise all of the technology available to them in the crime fight.
The murder toll for the year so far is 405. The murder toll up to September last year had stood at 371.
Young also assured that for every homicide committed they will put as many resources as they possibly can to determine the reason behind it, detect who is the perpetrator and prosecute him or her.
“So I am aware of it, the Police Service is investigating all of those incidents and we will continue to press on to fight this thing as hard as we can,” Young said. —Rhondor Dowlat