The Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has defended Police Commissioner Erla Christopher from criticisms and slammed former police officer Johnny Abraham and the Opposition.
Addressing a news conference at Whitehall, Port of Spain, the Prime Minister said: “Let me just say this, because I need to say it, when the Commissioner Erla Christopher finds herself being ridiculed on a political platform by Johnny Abraham, it rots my gut. Because I want to tell Mr Abraham, he’s not the only person who knows about crime and criminality in this country. And if I were him, I would shut my mouth. And I say no more for the moment….
“It is people like that who have us where we are today…had we not had people like that in the Police Service, maybe we never would have been where we are today. So don’t complain to me with any solution.
“And tonight (at the public meeting at the Croisee last night), I will talk about the politicians who have us where we are today. And coming and telling me that they have solutions when you are part of the blasted problem,” the Prime Minister thundered.
He said the Police Service Commission identified to the Parliament someone for appointment as commissioner of police.
“It mightn’t be your favourite…but the bottom line is that that is the person who, for a period of time, is required to run the Police Service. I don’t think it helps to try to get yourself in the news every night by shouting down everything negative about the Commissioner of Police.
“She needs our support…because the situation is that is the person that we’ve put there to do that job. And if that person is not gonna get our assistance and all the person gets is denigration”, it doesn’t help the situation, he said.
Rowley also expressed condolences to the family of PC Ravindra Harrinarine, who was killed on Wednesday night.
Harrinarine was an officer who was a regularly part of the marked vehicles which formed the PM’s detail.
The Prime Minister said: “ I want to express my condolences to the family of one of my officers who is usually in the marked patrol car that takes me around some time.
“I discovered a little while ago that he was killed in Spring Village last night. He went to Spring Village for some reason and was wantonly killed because in our society, there are people for whom that is a job.”
The Prime Minister said that except for “the few South Americans”, the bulk of these people who kill were home-grown, which said a lot about a lot of the homes in this country.
“While we are traumatised by the 600 people who were killed, we also must take note that there are people who put their lives on the line to take away almost 1,000 guns from people last year. Don’t forget that. Because the people who go to these armed people to take away their guns, they put their lives on the line, sometimes they lose it,” he said.