Joseph tells criminals: You crossed the line

NATIONAL SECURITY Minister Martin Joseph declared that the criminals who murdered  former President Arthur NR Robinson’s bodyguard Tuesday night “crossed the line.” The police will bring them to justice and that murder forms part of an emerging pattern of “attacks on soft targets” in Trinidad and Tobago. 

Addressing yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall, Joseph said, “This government is outraged by the blatant disregard for human life being displayed by the criminal elements in our society. I want to reassure our law enforcement officers, who are currently operating in a challenging and dangerous environment, that we are committed to them as they discharge their duties. “To the criminals out there who think they can continue to operate with impunity and disregard for the laws of this nation and the sanctity of life, I want to assure them that when you continue to murder citizens and when you viciously murder a law enforcement officer in such a cold and callous manner as was done to acting Insp Edward Williams, you have crossed the line and be assured that law enforcement officers will leave no stone unturned to bring you to justice!” He added that “there is an understanding worldwide that you do not kill a law enforcement officer.” The minister said the murder was “the third instance over the last two weeks where persons would have been socialising and somebody intruded. So that means you have some people who are roaming around looking for opportunities and the law enforcement agencies will respond to that,” he stated.

However, Joseph said government was not presently reviewing security arrangements for top government officials or public figures such as Robinson. “The law enforcement agencies continuously review the whole question of threats to society as a whole and resources are allocated on the basis of their assessment,” he explained. Joseph said he could not say whether Robinson or anyone else was the real target in Tuesday’s incident. The minister announced the immediate creation within the Police Service of a deputy police commissioner for criminal intelligence and said his duties would not conflict with those of other national security agencies. “The appropriate coordination and cooperation that is necessary between agencies is taking place,” Joseph stated. He said there was no need for a State of Emergency and statistics over the last six months revealed that “18 police station districts out of a total of 62 police station districts are responsible for 65 percent of the crime.”

Joseph said it was in this context that 100 recently acquired vehicles will be sent to these districts and “we are also looking at the personnel who are assigned to those 18 districts to make sure that nothing but the best is there to treat with these situations.” Reiterating government and the law enforcement agencies’ dissatisfaction with the current levels of crime in TT, Joseph declared, “Even as we bring crime and criminal activity down to an acceptable level, we have to be mindful because we exist in a democracy and we have to do things that are consistent with living in a democracy. We are making sacrifices. “We have a small band of people who are giving us hell but we will beat them back. I can assure you that!” Joseph said TT must not become like one of its neighbours which is now under international scrutiny for how it dealt with crime.