Law abiding Laventille residents yesterday complained to National Security Minister Edmund Dillon of verbal abuse from police and soliders who have increased their presence in the crime-torn community following the double murder of two schoolboys last month.
“There are some who have respect. We have to respect the soldiers and police but they have to respect us to. They does always cuss me up but I can’t cuss them back because they will lock me up but I can’t lock them up for cussing me. So, what can I do but just take the cuss,” one resident said.
Other residents also complained about abuse and asked how the police expected their support in the fight against criminals.
Dillon, who went on tour of Sogren Trace, Laventille, the same district of the murdered schoolboys, responded, saying soldiers and police officers have been instructed to conduct themselves in a humane manner and exercise mutual respect to regain the trust of the people in the communities.
In response to the murders of the schoolboys, Prime Minister Keith Rowley instructed Dillon to order the Defence Force to deploy troops permanently in the hills of Laventille to regain control of the communities, which have been under siege from warring gangs affiliated with the opposing Rasta City and Muslim gangs.
Rowley then criticised those residents who had information about the gang members and other crimes but remained silent, describing them as unpatriotic. Of the 48 murders committed this year, the majority were classified as gang-related and were committed in the Port-of-Spain district.
Dillon’s visit came two weeks after Success Laventille Secondary School schoolboys, Mark Richards and his friend Deneilson Smith, were pulled out of a taxi and killed in cold blood while on their way home from school. No one has been arrested for the crime.
“We are here to take back the streets. We will not sit by and allow those who are bent on criminal activities to own the streets of Laventille. We are going to be there and will be making the lives of those people unbearable,” Dillon told residents gathered at a pavilion next to the community centre.
The soldiers have set up camp at the Sogren Trace Community Centre.
“The fear of crime is worse than the crime itself and we are bound to eradicate their sense of fear so the residents can once more feel comfortable and safe to walk the streets and use the sporting and recreational spaces in the community,” he added.
Dillon disclosed there were a combination of strategies to be used in Laventille along with other crime hot spots throughout T&T, one of which is the joint army and police patrols.
The minister said it was not fair for residents to live in fear and be uncomfortable while others were there on the streets comfortable with their illegal firearms.
“I don’t want to go into details but we will be targeting, based on intelligence, the known offenders in the communities who bear illegal arms and are illegally involved in drugs and gang activities.
‘So, we will be engaging in intelligence-based operations because we have to get the guns off the streets,” Dillon added.
Asked if soldiers being able to have the power of arrest will be considered, Dillon replied: “It is not on the table at this point in time. I am not saying that it would not be considered but not right now.” Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has called on Government to reconsider supporting legislation to give soldiers powers of arrest and intends to debate the matter in Parliament.
Dillon said soldiers could detain people and hand them over to the police, similar to a citizens arrest.
Call for community programmes
Resident Ricky Taylor, 50, told Dillon he was once in a life of crime and was shot at seven times and managed to escape unhurt. He said it was at that point he decided to make a change for the better.
Taylor called on Dillon to work along with other ministries that would be able to help implement programmes in the community that would be able to grab at the children from the kindergarten age group.
“Things must be put in place to grab the children away from crime. Have social welfare officers and police visiting the schools and dealing with them.
“Build up camps so those who are dropping out they can pick up and make sure that they finish their education and come out better citizens,” Taylor said.
Dillon was told by one resident, an elderly man, that he may even get killed for talking to him and showing support to the police and army. “But I don’t mind because this is what we need here in Laventille so that peace and that sense of security can prevail once more,” the man said.