Tobago chamber urges PM to take action on cops hiding from criminals

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THE Tobago Business Chamber is calling on the Prime Minister to “take some decisive action” after his startling claim in the Parliament on January 13 that police officers were hiding from criminals.

Leading off the debate in the House of Representatives on a motion to approve the basis on which the state of emergency (SoE) was declared on December 30, Dr Rowley revealed he had received reports of police stations being closed because officers are afraid of being attacked by criminals.

But in a video sent to the media via WhatsApp on January 14, the chamber’s chairman Martin George described the revelation as “alarming."

“Policemen are hiding in police stations, turning off the lights and closing the doors because they are afraid to go out and confront the bandits and the criminals out there. Now that is one of the most alarming statements we have heard coming from the head of the National Security Council and in those circumstances, we would think that a more appropriate response would be that the head of the National Security Council would ensure that heads roll in light of this revelation.”

In an apparent reference to Commissioner of Police Erla Harewood-Christopher, he said,“It cannot be that you sit there as the top of the executive of the TTPS and these things are occurring under your watch and there is no accountability or responsibility. I think it is clear that the Prime Minister has to take some decisive action in that regard.”

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George said National Security Ministers Fitzgerald Hinds and Keith Scotland should also address the issue.

“We think that it also goes all the way up to the question of responsibility and the question of accountability from the Ministry of National Security and the two ministers who are assigned thereto.

“Because if the TTPS is under their purview, then it is a circumstance where it is clear that they ought to come forth and give some sort of explanation for this rather alarming scenario that the Prime Minister has spoken to because basically, you are saying that police officers are abdicating their duties and responsibilities. They are shirking their tasks. They are hiding from the criminals.”

“So if the police are hiding from the criminals, what does it leave for us, the ordinary citizens?" he asked.

George said it was "truly a despicable and deplorable state of affairs and we hope there will be some decisive action taken as a result."

“Otherwise, it is clear that we want to continue doing the same things over and over and expect different results despite making no changes that are meaningful, substantial or sustainable.”