‘Commissioner makes that call’

Dillon made the statement in response to a question from Opposition Chief Whip, David Lee, on behalf of Barataria/San Juan MP Dr Fuad Khan in the House of Representatives. After explaining that this was not his responsibility, Dillon stated, “However, I would surely want to inform the House that the CoP does in fact, based on individual assessments, allow police officers to retain their service-issued firearms outside.” In response to another question posed by Couva North MP Ramona Ramdial, Dillon said, “Joint (police) army patrols are currently being conducted in the Enterprise area where, on the basis of threat assessments and supported by the CoP and the Chief of Defence Staff, we feel that is where joint patrols should be at this point in time.” Dillon previously spoke about plans to establish an army camp in Enterprise.

The minister indicated that notwithstanding this, there are random joint patrols which operate in the Chaguanas area, including its commercial business district. He also said there are standard police patrols in these areas as well.