Commissioner of Police, Gary Griffith, has noted the increase in the number of police-involved shootings and has assured that every one of them will be investigated by the TTPS and the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) to determine if the minimum use of force was used.
It comes after two separate police-involved shooting incidents on Wednesday.
According to Commissioner Griffith during the last two years, there were 131 incidents where police officers were shot at. He said it is equivalent to one police officer being shot every six days.
He said the incidents on Wednesday and other before show the danger the police face in the line of duty.
“It is obvious that when these persons shoot at the police, we will return fire. And because we are more highly trained, there is always the likelihood that some of these persons will be killed. If there is an increase in shootings at the police, it is very possible that more persons will be shot.”
The commissioner said he is grateful that an officer has not been killed in a while.
The TTPS said on Wednesday, members of the Central Division Gang and Intelligence Unit, acting on information, executed a search warrant at a two-storey building located on John Street, Chaguanas.
During the search, the police officers were confronted by two men who opened fire on them.
The officers returned fire, fatally wounding the two men. One of the police officers was shot in his chest. Two firearms, belonging to the dead men, were recovered.
One of the dead men was identified as Joel Ramsundar, an active member of the Trinidad and Tobago Prisons Service, and Aleandro Gomez, a national of Venezuela. Ramsundar was last posted to the Maximum Security Prison.
Earlier Wednesday, officers went to Gasparillo Road, Santa Cruz, to execute a warrant on a man for possession of a firearm and ammunition.
They were fired upon and returned fire.
The wanted man, Shaquille Morris, was shot and later succumbed to his injuries.