00:00 The seemingly incessant gang war between the Six and Rasta City gangs has claimed the lives
00:05 of several persons in and around the Port of Spain area over the last few weeks. So
00:11 much so that the reputed leaders of both gangs in an express front page story yesterday said
00:16 they were willing to work out a peace deal which a police officer from the IATF said
00:20 he was privy to and that police were also trying to assist in mitigating against the
00:24 killings. The peace deal is still on the table TV6 News has been told. However, acting DCP
00:30 for intelligence and investigations Kurt Simon has distanced the Trinidad and Tobago Police
00:35 Service from brokering any deal between warring gangs when he spoke to I-95 this morning.
00:41 I cannot say if the gangs have reached a peace agreement. What I ask that you call me on
00:48 is that I heard people saying that the police are somehow involved in brokering a deal,
00:54 a peace agreement deal with the gangs. DCP Simon said his mandate via instructions from
01:01 the commission of police was to ensure violent crime reduction which also included specific
01:06 focus on gang violence. We have adopted different approaches which involve covert and overt
01:13 manoeuvres. None of our manoeuvres involve the DTPS being involved in facilitating, encouraging,
01:23 discussing, advising gangs on making any deals with each other to bring any peace between
01:30 each other. From time to time we know that gangs would meet and try to broker their own peace. I
01:36 have no quarrel with that. I have no quarrel with that. And while that may be so, a senior
01:41 police officer said we have to meet people on the ground and where possible talk to these people to
01:46 better understand what is happening and why this is happening. Part of our job is to try and reduce
01:52 and mitigate against these killings. The Express reported yesterday that an IITF officer said that
01:59 both gang leaders had sent messages to one another about the ongoing war. Both leaders we spoke with
02:04 told us they both wanted peace and in turn sent messages through their own mediums to also give
02:10 each other the reassurance that they wanted peace on the streets, the officer said. Today police and
02:16 underworld sources told TV6 News that the reputed gang leaders were willing to meet and further
02:21 iron out their differences with the intention of securing peace on the streets once again.
02:27 Mark Besant, TV6 News.
02:29 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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