Griffith slams Fitzgerald Hinds as “reckless”
As Minister of National Security, I must describe the statements made on national television this morning by former Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security Mr. Fitzgerald Hinds, as reckless.
In an interview, Mr. Hinds suggested that the reason the crime statistics are so low is because people are no longer reporting crime to the Police Service. I reject this claim and describe these unfortunate utterances as reprehensible and unforgivable as they strike at the heart of the integrity of the entire Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS).
I view the former Minister’s statements as petty politics of the worst order. For a former member of the same Police Service and a career politician to make such adverse statements suggests that there is an attempt to bring the entire Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) into disrepute and an attempt to damage the integrity and reputation of every serving law enforcement officer.
As a former Minister of National Security, one would assume that Mr. Hinds would be aware that persons are less inclined to report serious crimes if there is an escalation in crime and would be more inclined to report serious crimes as the crime rate declines.
This notion would make the opposite to what Mr. Hinds is saying to be true, as more people would be willing to report crime now when serious crimes are at an all-time low, as opposed to 2008 and 2009 when it was at its highest in this country’s history.
Is Mr. Hinds saying that instead of making reports of burglaries and robberies so that victims can then follow through with their insurance claims, members of the public are simply forgetting about it? It would be thoughtless for one to suggest that victims of crime – including people who are shot or stabbed – are choosing to bandage themselves at home.
For Mr. Hinds to imply that the decreased homicide rate is as a direct result of people not reporting them is tantamount to bodies being hidden and no report being made about the sudden disappearance of family members and friends, or a wife or daughter being a victim of rape by a relative and refusing to report it in the hopeful attempt to bring the felon to justice.
I am perplexed if Mr. Hinds is suggesting that the Ministry of National Security ignore the results of well-oiled anti-crime machinery and manage our National Security affairs on whims and fancies.
Contrary to what Mr. Hinds would have us believe, it is a fact that in 2014, this country has recorded the lowest number of serious crimes in thirty-one (31) years.
It is also a fact that 2009 recorded the highest number of serious crimes in the history of this country. It is again a fact that in comparison to 2009 and 2014, there were over eleven thousand (11,000) less serious crimes, equating to one less person being murdered, raped, kidnapped, stabbed or their property stolen every hour for every month throughout the year in 2014, as compared to the same period in 2009.
It is a fact that there were over one thousand five hundred (1,050) murders in 2008 and 2009, with the homicide rate reaching an all-time high of five hundred and forty-eight (548) in that period, compared to 2013 and 2014 where there were over two hundred and fifty (250) less murders. These numbers equate to one less person being killed every three (3) days for 2013 and 2014 when compared with 2008 and 2009.
When the former Minister’s statements are held up against the scrutiny of facts, his entire premise collapses. As Minister of National Security, I challenge Mr. Hinds to provide evidence to support his claims or to immediately and unreservedly apologize to the hardworking men and women of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS).
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Senator the Honourable Gary Griffith
Minister of National Security