No Surrender to Powerlessness

​No Surrender to Powerlessness
Last Thursday, in an exchange of gunfire between officers who were on an exercise and gunmen in Trou Macaque Laventille, police killed 5 young men. That’s how the official story went.
In a 3:35 a.m. statement (reminiscent of President Trump) the Prime Minister declared: “There is no good end to bad deeds, bad company and a life of crime.”.
The Police Commissioner announced: "If it is a war they want, it is war they will get. One of my officers was actually hit by a bullet and saved by a bulletproof vest. That is justification for us to fire and …. It is one shot, one kill.”
The National Security Minister called on citizens to “stand with law enforcement officers”.
After all these statements presenting a particular narrative, both the Commissioner and the PCA Head announced that simultaneous investigations were launched, the internal police investigation being conducted by the ACP (Homicide).
So, after the implicit declarations of justifiable killing by the police, investigations are now proceeding and today the Commissioner yesterday said he couldn’t say if the officers were wearing body cameras “because the investigation was ongoing”.
Many in a society battered by years of runaway murderous violence unleashed on citizens, responded to the Trou Macaque killings and the CoP’s gun talk by literally saying – Yes, kill them all.
In the absence of a completed investigation, the police killings were welcomed because ‘they deserved it’ because “these 5 ' young men' who kiss guns and challenge authority”, one of them seen on social media with illegal guns in the past.
We Need The Facts
Before we rush to conclusion, we need the facts of what happened last Thursday.
There are some inconsistencies in the narrative.
What was the exercise the police were on?
The police have told us, they were:

• investigating a robbery that just happened
• were on patrol in the area
• executing a warrant
• searching for 2 of the young men.

We are told 2 pistols were found. No word of spent shells.
The shot men were removed from the crime scene and relatives and neighbours claim they ‘washed down’ crime scene. They also claim that the bodies were being washed when they got to the hospital.
So, what really happened? We all need to know the facts, so we can draw warranted conclusions.  
We All Want Safety and Security
Every citizen of TT wants a safe society to live in. Everyone wants to feel safe at home, on the streets, to be able to go out and enjoy the natural beauty of the country, to enjoy social events with family and friends.
But, with 6,972 murders in our population of 1.3 million in the last 18 years (435 to October 31 this year); with record annual tolls of 494 or more in 4 of these 18 year; with home invasions, multiple killings in recreational areas; with death increasingly the outcome of a robbery at any time of day or night, citizens feel that nowhere or no time is safe.
A sense of unease and powerlessness has showed out lives and there seems to be no letting up.
We have wanted safety and security and a return to our free movement without fear all along. 
However, to recover our Right to Safety and Security it cannot be by any means whatsoever.
A few months ago, we were assured that the names, addresses and phone numbers of all the gang members were known to the state and what was needed by the police was the passage of the Anti-gang legislation. It was assented to on May 15 and we were expectant.
A substantive Police Commissioner was appointed on August 5 and our hopes for a respite rose again.
And, this killing last Thursday evoked a sense that “Police officers have been given a dose of courage and motivation to go after criminals….” As the Police Association President put it.
As battered and cowed as we may feel, as much as we want action, we must be careful not to descend into savage mentality of those who have inflicted brutality on us.
We accept the right of police officers to defend themselves against violent attack, a right which we, as citizens, also cherish. We must also be careful that we do not now give the police a license to kill with impunity, as those who have terrorized us for all this time have claimed for themselves.
We jealously guard our governance founded on law and order and due process.
We must be careful that we are not driven by our sense of powerlessness to support the development of a state of police powers instead of a state of law and order.
 
Clyde Weatherhead
A Citizen Fighting for
Our Right to Safety and Security
31 October 2018

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