Of candour and guns

THE CANDOUR of Insp Christopher Holder in recognising that the public had lost “some measure of confidence” in the Police Service is welcome. It seems quite significant, in fact, that the president of the TT Police Service Social and Welfare Association should have made such an admission at Wednesday’s signing ceremony of the new collective agreement for salary increases and reviews of the terms and conditions of employment of first and second division officers. We can only hope that combining acceptance of the need for restoring the public’s confidence with the satisfactory settlement of the pay-packet issue for police officers will now serve to produce a far more dynamic and effective attack on the crime menace in our country. This, in fact, is the point which National Security Minister Martin Joseph made when he commended officers at the signing ceremony. “Now that the issue of compensation is behind us,” the Minister said, “we can focus on making sure that we have a police service that is able to respond to the challenges that face them.”

If, as Insp Holder also admitted, the loss of public confidence did not happen overnight but took a number of years, then he and his fellow officers must also admit that one of their major challenges lies within the service itself, specifically to purge the establishment of non-performers, malingerers and dishonest policemen — deadwood that has accumulated over a period of time — and to rebuild the morale and commitment of the force. If this weeding out is part of their promise “to set things right” and among the “revolutionary measures” they plan to use to regain public confidence, then the police officers are surely on the right track. Another of the critical challenges they must face is the necessity to rid the country of illegal guns, to stop lethal weapons from getting into the hands of bandits, criminals and the members of underworld gangs. In this regard, we are prompted to wonder what become of the many illegal guns seized by the police in their investigations, searches and raids. Are these weapons destroyed, and if not where are they kept and how securely? The query is inspired by a letter written to this newspaper by Mr Jason Hernandez of San Fernando who relates:

“Two years ago, a man was held by the police and a gun was found in his car. The gun was unlicensed and quite correctly he was charged. The case was called, but the police were not ready. This went on over and over again for two years. The police were never ready and the magistrate threw out the case. What has happened to the gun? Is it in the possession of the police? In cases such as these, there is the perception that the police deliberately frustrate the courts by not ever being ready to prosecute. Why? So that they can keep the gun? Sell it? Perhaps the Police Service has a good system for keeping these weapons that they seize, but can we be sure? Should the magistrate not insist that the seized gun be brought to court to satisfy us that the gun has not fallen into the wrong hands? How many of these seized weapons are there for which no one can account?”
The crackdown on illegal guns is a critical factor in the fight against crime, and we expect that the police authorities, as a matter of transparency and public concern, will be as candid as Insp Holder in shedding light on Mr Hernandez’ timely and relevant query.