Brig Joseph: Crime Unit not missing in action

COMMANDER of the Special Crime Unit (SCU), Brigadier Peter Joseph, yesterday assured the population his unit was not missing in action and it will ensure that acceptable levels of security are restored within Trinidad and Tobago.

Speaking with reporters following a handover of $1.5 million in military supplies from the Chinese Government to the TT Defence Force at Teteron Barracks, Brig Joseph declared that contrary to reports in the media and claims from certain groups, the SCU was neither missing in action nor dormant. “Work is going on apace. We are building a new organisation out of two separate organisations. We are building something from scratch. We have a lot of work to do both administratively, organisationally,  and structurally,” he stated.  Formation of the SCU was first announced by Prime Minister Patrick Manning in his Budget 2003/2004 presentation in Parliament on October 6. At that time, then National Security Minister Howard Chin Lee said: “This unit would have the ability to utilise manpower and resources from other protective services, including the intelligence units, the TT Police Service, both arms of the Defence Force as well as the Voluntary Defence Force, the TT Fire and Prison Services and members of the civilian population.” 

Chin Lee had said the SCU “is expected to have a decisive impact on the incidence of violent crimes such as kidnapping, extortion, illegal narcotics and the activities of any group intent on terrorising the population” and expected the unit would become operational within two months. “I assure you that come the beginning of January, we will be making a number of statements about what is happening. We are working on a time frame that I have put in place,” Joseph said. The Opposition UNC has accused the Government of establishing the SCU as “a hit squad” to deal with its political enemies. Former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj and the Police Second Division Welfare Association claimed there was no legal basis upon which the unit could be formed and police officers could only take orders from the Commissioner of Police. Manning indicated that the SCU could be formed under legislation governing the Special Reserve Police Service and the Joint Opera-tional Command Centre.