Delays in warrants

THE EDITOR: Allow me to refer to an article on pg 3 of Newsday from May 14th, titled, “Cops to be arrested today for unlawful killing of teen.” I was particularly concerned to read that “the attorney who represented the Seerattan family found it strange that it took the police over six weeks to execute the warrants on their two colleagues.”

My daughter has three warrants out for the father of her child for child maintenance. She has asked over and over again as to what is happening to these warrants, and it is always a case of it is at the relevant police station! She visited the station concerned, and was only able to get them to issue the very latest of the warrants, in spite of her earnest pleas for all, especially those from last year, be served together. To no avail! And the sad part is that the child’s father holds down a very good job and recently bought himself a new car. This is surely a case crying to heaven for vengeance, and I cannot but wonder how many other mothers out there have found themselves in the same boat.

Because of this, I wish hereby to publicly beg, no, plead with the Commissioner of Police to have an immediate investigation done as to how very many people are silently suffering today because of this, and to institute measures to have this corrected immediately! A good starting point maybe, would be to establish Investigations Committees in Port-of-Spain, in the East, Central, and South to whom all persons thus affected could take an official complaint to be dealt with within one month! Also to have Government take steps to make it a law that where warrants are issued and not served within a specific period of time, say one month again, that the relevant Police Station be required to give account for the delay, to a permanent Complaints Committee who would then ensure that some sort of punitive measures be instituted against the relevant Police Station or Police Officer, as well as justice being determined for the aggrieved party immediately. May our heavenly Father touch the heart of the Police Commissioner to do something about this disgraceful situation right away!

CECILIA ROACH
Port-of-Spain