00:00In a statement on Friday evening, the judiciary responded to the impasse
00:04between cops and the court over a policy to bar policemen from carrying firearms
00:10while in court. It says a screening policy was established in 2015 to ensure
00:15the safety of all its building users and that the policy is in keeping with
00:20international best practice for court buildings and is in keeping with
00:25security protocols in many sectors across Trinidad and Tobago and
00:29internationally where police officers must be screened. The judiciary says it
00:35continues to engage in discussions with the leadership of the Trinidad and
00:39Tobago Police Service to ensure common understanding of the policy position on
00:44the exclusion of firearms from court buildings. The statement reads quote
00:49despite this policy the judiciary continues to encounter issues from
00:54certain officers of the TTPs whose actions deliberately disregard this
00:59policy that prohibits court users and TTPs officers from entering the court
01:05premises with a firearm where special measures apply. This is worked out
01:10collaboratively end quote. It referenced an incident last Wednesday at the Omero
01:15Judicial Complex when a TTPs officer refused to comply and was refused entry.
01:21The incident the judiciary says escalated to the point where the officer
01:25issued a threat of arrest to court staff. At that point the judiciary doubled down
01:31on its right to regulate access to all court premises. Weighing in on the impasse
01:37opposition leader Kamala Basard Basaza says she believes police officers
01:41should be allowed to keep their firearms when going to court because many of the
01:45cases involve violent crimes and officers are subject to threats by
01:50allies of accused persons. Basard Basaza asked the judiciary and Chief Justice
01:55for clarification on two matters. One, are the TTPs special branch officers who
02:02are assigned to protect magistrates and judges allowed inside court buildings
02:06with their firearms? Two, are judicial officers, masters, magistrates, judges
02:13allowed to enter court buildings with their personal firearms? The opposition
02:18leader says her information to the questions is yes adding quote it is the
02:23height of hypocrisy for the judiciary to leave police officers exposed to
02:28potential attacks without access to their firearms while the judicial
02:32officers are fully protected and allowed to keep theirs end quote. She calls on
02:37the judiciary to come clean cementing her support behind the TTPs officers on
02:42this issue. Basard Basaza says the policy is just as hypocritical as the
02:47Prime Minister and government preventing law-abiding citizens from accessing
02:52legal firearms while the PM and his ministers are fully protected by
02:57heavily armed police. The opposition leader calls for immediate measures to
03:02be taken to amend the policy and while the judiciary says the policy has
03:06existed for over a decade she rebuts that in that time murder and mayhem has
03:11been the order of the day along with an escalation of the number of reports of
03:16hits being called from behind the prison walls by gang members. Further Basard
03:22Basaza laments that since the policy has now been properly made public TTPs
03:27officers are even more vulnerable and exposed to criminal elements. She ends
03:32her statement saying quote I call on the judiciary to make the necessary changes
03:37to allow TTPs officers to be armed in court end quote
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