As grieving families of people killed in domestic-related cases continue to cry out for justice, acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams says the police can do nothing about killings that stem from such situations.
Speaking at an interfaith service for South Western Division police at the La Divina Pastora RC Church, Siparia, yesterday, Williams called on God to pay special attention to the spiralling murder rates plaguing T&T. Admitting that citizens were living in fear of crime, he said a divine intervention was really needed in this country.
“When a brother can stab and kill a brother inside a house for $30, there is nothing the police can do about that. When a daughter could stab a father inside a house, there is nothing the police can do about that. For 2017, we are seeing a series of killings for which no amount of police presence on the streets can have an impact on that,” Williams said.
“There is a need for more work and in those circumstances we are saying if God is in control, we are asking God to continue to be in control, but to pay a special kind of attention on what is happening in Trinidad and Tobago, as we police officers who are charged with the responsibility can continue to focus on fulfilling our responsibility.”
He said that such domestic murders were happening in places where the police do not have a presence. However, he said crimes in the household still need to be addressed.
The South Western Division has recorded four murders for the year, including the deaths of Nadia Simms, Luenda Anthony, Ricky Mohammed and Richard Harman Arjoon. To date, investigators have only made an arrest and charge in the case of Simms.
However, Williams said citizens were not fully aware of the state of crime, as he pointed out that serious crime had been reduced by almost 50 per cent in 2016 from 2009. Within the crime reduction efforts was a 400 per cent increase in police patrols from previous years, he said. The number of road deaths in 2016 was also at a 70-year low.
Speaking after the service, Williams said citizens were not seeing clear because violent crime had traumatised the nation. He said one incident appeared like 25 to the public. He said crime can only be fought through a collaboration between the police, the public and government agencies. Fostering this partnership is part of their strategic crime plan for 2017 to 2019, he said.
Over the past few months, there has been an increase in videos and photos of murder victims and false claims of children being kidnapped going viral on social media. Asked to comment on this, Williams said all instances of wrongdoing, whether or not it happened in T&T, will affect people. However, he said the sharing of these stories, videos and photos was all about promoting panic.
“The very said citizens are promoting panic that is beyond the mere issue of the level of crime. It is about the perception of crime and that is where the challenge is: The perception of crime being way beyond the level of crime,” he said.