Crime plans unaffected by Snaggs’ departure

CURRENT and planned anti-crime initiatives will not be affected when Police Commissioner Everald Snaggs retires in a few months time. The  assurance was given Monday by National Security Minister Martin Joseph during a news conference at the Ministry’s Port-of-Spain headquarters. Snaggs was officially appointed Commissioner on January 2, but is due to officially retire from the Police Service in July. The Minister said Government’s anti-crime initiatives were being developed “by a team of persons,” the Police Commissioner was one of those persons and “only time will tell” how effective these intiatives will be. Joseph said the new Special Anti-Crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago was not “an indictment on the performance of the other agencies” but modern crime-fighting required responses “at different levels” and a series of short and long-term anti-crime responses were now being developed.

The minister also pointed out that effective transformation of the Police Service required legislation and reminded reporters of the Opposition UNC’s continued refusal to support the Police Reform Bills.  Prime Minister Patrick Manning signalled his intention to meet with Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday to ensure that the Bills are passed in Parliament. Snaggs noted that while the last year was challenging for the Police Service, he remained optimistic that the strategies now being developed will help to reduce crime and restore public confidence in the Service. He declined to comment on reports of alleged police brutality against the media and said those matters were still under investigation.
Asked why none of the recently acquired, four mobile police units was placed in the Laventille area given recent killings there, Snaggs reiterated that these were the first of a batch of 24 mobile units that will be supplied to the Government to be deployed throughout the country. The Commissioner also said plans to computerise all areas of the Service’s operations are continuing apace. The Unit’s commander, Brigadier Peter Joseph, said his unit is not a “senior-junior organisation” and will work closely with existing police units such as the Anti-Kidnapping Squad and Firearms Interdiction Unit when required to do so. Joseph said because the unit’s personnel are drawn from the Police Service and the TT Defence Force, he plays no role in the selection process.