There are some very bad police officers in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) and innocent lives might be negatively impacted by the Bail (Amendment) Bill (2019).
Opposition Senator Wade Mark indicated this in yesterday’s Senate debate on the bill, which seeks to extend certain bail powers—especially regarding repeat offenders and firearms issues—until August 2023. Mark said the opposition United National Congress wouldn’t support the bill as it violates the Constitution.
He said relatives of people killed are shedding “rivers of tears” for the “rivers of blood” in T&T, but the Government doesn’t know what to do about runaway crime. Instead, he said, the Government blamed others and resorted to ”punitive, draconian measures as a plaster.”
Mark, who queried the rationale for the bill, said denying bail doesn’t solve crime. He said bail is entrenched as a function of the judiciary, but Government was trying to remove that via the bill. He said one of the agencies responsible for enforcing the bill is the TTPS. He said while he had the greatest respect for the police, one had to admit there are some very bad officers in TTPS.
“When you give the police this kind of power to arrest and charge people, we have to talk about malicious prosecution. Innocent lives can be impacted upon by this kind of measure. What kinds of checks and balances are there in the legislation to protect the innocent against malicious prosecution?”
He said many have gone to court and courts ruled they were maliciously prosecuted by TTPS and taxpayers had to compensate them.
“We can’t allow Government to give total blanket power to the State to do whatever they want... how do we ensure the innocent is protected, in giving the police that enormous kind of power - this is draconian powers we’re giving police!”
Mark asked if the Law Association was consulted on the bill, since he noted the LATT from 2015 to 2016 was against the last such bill. He noted Attorney General Reginald Armour’s statements on his (Armour’s) position as LATT head then.
“What’s changed? It’s the same bill we have here. We can’t be against Bail bill in 2015 to 2016 and be for it now?” Mark said.
He added that the crime problem required a holistic approach because “you can’t put youths behind bars, it’s not solving the problem.”
Rather than the bill, Mark said more proportionate measures were needed which should be “less intrusive in breaching” people’s rights. He advocated for electronic monitoring, asked if enough resources are being put into crime-fighting and added the detection rate remains poor.