Truth will come out

It may be that, in the recent reports of a senior police officer being found with marked ransom money in his possession, the media misjudged the reliability of their sources. Both Police Commissioner Trevor Paul and Brigadier Peter Joseph, head of the Special Anti-Crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (SAUTT), have denied the reports. But, generally speaking, the media are not reckless. Although some media houses were more sceptical than others, all paid attention to this information for three reasons. One, the sources were highly-placed. Two, it hardly seems likely that kidnappings can continue to be so prevalent without the involvement of police officers. And, three, a corrupt cop is hardly in the realms of fantasy.

If it turns out that the report had absolutely no basis, then the sources have been totally discredited and there will be no repeat of this kind of incident.

If it turns out, however, that there is some truth to the report, that will be even more worrisome. For it will mean that the CoP and the SAUTT head are either lacking information or treating the facts loosely.

Time will tell but, whatever the outcome, this incident has brought to the boil an issue that has been simmering since the formation of the SAUTT. It is inarguable that whoever gave this information to the media wanted either to unearth corruption in the higher echelons of the Police Service or to tarnish the reputation of senior officers. That friction has existed, even if covertly, between the Police Service and SAUTT from the start. Indeed, it was only last Tuesday that the president of the Police Social andWelfare Association, Corporal Cedric Neptune, called for SAUTT to be disbanded, arguing that there was no legal framework for the unit and that this could lead to corruption.

Cpl Neptune’s logic, however, is faulty. After all, there exists a clear legal framework for the Police Service — but this has not prevented the corruption of officers. The real reason SAUTT is a cause for concern is because the Unit reports directly to the Minister of National Security, and that blurring of the line between Government and State has never boded well for any country. Moreover, SAUTT was originally formed as an elite corps intended to make the fight against crime more effective. The statistics, however, show that SAUTT is failing in its ostensible mission.

There will come a point when Minister Martin Joseph will have to justify the expense of SAUTT, as well as the inevitable resentment the existence of the Unit has caused among ordinary police officers. In the meantime, this new tangle will have to be handled in a manner which does not exacerbate tensions between these parallel police forces. And the allegations against the senior police officer will certainly have to be clarified because, at this point, the categorical denials of Commissioner Paul and Brigadier Joseph are not quite adequate.