Martin Joseph responds to Chamber

Mr Ian Welch

President

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

Dear Mr Welch,

I make reference to the article “What (Foreign) Police can do” published in the Newsday of Friday August 25, 2006 by the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce. This article focused on Guyana’s post-election employment of former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik and the Kerik Group to reform Guyana’s Police Force, along with the Scottish Police and British Government. It also highlighted the background experience of Mr Kerik. While your article rightfully lavishes Mr Kerik with praise, you failed to note that even the Mr Kerik’s “ethics violations” were noted by the Government of Guyana.

It is indeed unfortunate that you did not apprise the population of the fact that the former Police Commissioner Bernard B Kerik is currently under a second federal investigation for possible financial improprieties unrelated to the crimes he pleaded guilty to last month in NY state court. In State Supreme Court in the Bronx, NY, he pleaded guilty of accepting gifts from a New Jersey construction firm and for failing to document a personal loan on his annual New York City Conflict of Interest Report; the court ordered him to pay a fine of US$221,000 for these misdeeds. This agreement allowed him to avoid jail time and a felony conviction. Also absent from your article were several other issues Mr Kerik has had to address recently:

•His rejection as the nominee for Homeland Secretary, due to his failure to disclose to White House investigators potential problems due to his illegal employment of an undocumented immigrant;

•His association with a New Jersey construction firm long under fire for its ties to the underworld;

•His abrupt departure after four months of a six-month contract to reform the Iraqi Police Force, which yielded no tangible results; or

•The other numerous misconduct issues.

At the end of the said article, the Chamber described our Government as being “tight-lipped” about our own similar efforts to deal with the current crime situation in Trinidad and Tobago.

Allow me this opportunity to bring to your attention about three weeks ago, the Head of the Special Anti-Crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (SAUTT), Brigadier Peter Joseph, met with the Chamber and explained the workings of his Organisation.

He also detailed the role of the 39 UK Police Officers currently assigned to both SAUTT and the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS). It therefore comes as a surprise that, just a few weeks later, the Chamber would ask yet again for clarification on these officers.

The Ministry of National Security has been candid from the very beginning on roles of these UK officers. We had informed the public that these 39 officers were carefully selected and possess highly specialised skills to treat with the distinct characteristics of our country’s crime situation.

A Ministry media release dated April 11, 2006 indicated their specialisation in the following key areas:

•Homicide;

•Kidnapping;

•Intelligence;

•Crime Scene and Evidence

•Forensic Investigations; and

•Asset Recovery from Persons involved in Serious Crimes.

As further clarification, these officers are earmarked to hold the following positions:

•Project Leader;

•Operations Team leader;

•senior Investigating Officer;

•Managers (Investigations, Intelligence, Crime Scene, Technical Support);

•Team Leaders;

•Investigators;

•Analysts;

•Crime Scene Examiner; and

•Technical Officers.

Certainly, the Chamber should also share our Government’s concern for national security and would know better than to request full details of the operations of these officers during their tenure. Our fight against crime should mean keeping the criminal elements clueless about law enforcement’s arsenal against them. The Ministry has already outlined the fields of experience and the type of support the UK officers will offer to our local officers. Therefore, the Chamber should not be puzzled anymore about our citizen’s rights to be informed about this crime fighting initiative, as the public is already up-to-date. Also, please note that Metropolitan Police — Scotland Yard represents the same organisation.

The fact can easily be researched. http://www.fas.org/irp/world/uk/mps.

You can also rest assured that there are no overlapping of responsibilities between the Mastrofski work and that of the UK officers.

As usual the Ministry remains open to serious dialogue with the Chamber on issues that will result in the improvement in the safety and security of the citizens and businesses of this country.

Respectfully

Martin R Joseph

Minister