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  • 1 year ago
National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds says the police service is going after gangs and criminals; the government is taking an aggressive approach to dealing with the problem but the public has a role to play as well.

Transcript
00:00The National Security Minister explains that while the TTPS is doing its work in trying
00:06to clear illegal firearms off the streets, the public also shares part of the responsibility.
00:13He says it must be all hands on deck to return the country to some state of normalcy in the
00:19absence of this kind of criminal activity.
00:22Even before I became Minister of National Security, I had urged the Strategic Services
00:30Agency and Intelligence Gathering Act of National Security to conduct an assessment of the number
00:37of illegal firearms in the country, and at that time the report was about 12,000.
00:44Anecdotally, on the basis of that which we have previously agreed this morning, it might
00:50be substantially more than that.
00:53We are on the hunt for these weapons, as I was indicating a while ago.
00:58The public has a role to play in this.
01:01Minister Hines also spoke on the issue of illegal guns entering the country through
01:07legal ports.
01:08He tells TV6,
01:24He says,
01:38It's an ongoing business.
01:41And then of course, you have elements, as I alluded to a while ago, corruption.
01:47You have officers of the state apparatus who are complicit for the sake of money in making
01:57these things happen.
01:58So it's an ongoing work in progress.
02:01Some have been arrested, you have prison officers, police officers, defence force personnel,
02:08the left-wing and custom personnel, and the pursuit of that kind of engagement is an ongoing
02:15business.
02:16He notes that the state of emergency can greatly assist in getting both criminals and guns
02:22off the streets.
02:24The Minister referenced an incident where police informed him of an individual who was
02:29arrested with a gun and ammunition.
02:32The man was charged after a proper investigation.
02:35However, the court fined the man $2,500, which Minister Hines explains is not even the amount
02:43he would have owed his attorney.
02:45In default, the man would spend six months behind bars.
02:49And I'll tell you something, that some people, as you have just explained, is part of the
02:58reason why there is this feeling, because the guy would have gone down there, he would
03:02have been arrested, the day after, two days after, he would have gone to court and paid
03:07$2,500 for who he met.
03:10Now, in this state of emergency, the regulations say that if you are caught with a firearm
03:18and you are charged with that firearm within the context of emergency powers, you could
03:24be sentenced to a maximum of five years and fined up to $100,000.
03:33He notes that while some hold the view that criminals are getting off easy, the state
03:39has done its part with regard to laying down the regulations.
03:43He says the courts must enforce it.
03:46So, yes, we have the impression that they are being treated fairly, and the law permits
03:55more severe sentencing in accordance to what you have just depicted, but that is not part
04:01of the government, not for the ministers, that is a matter for the judiciary, another
04:07arm of the state.
04:09What we do in the government is provide legislation with fines and jail terms therein.
04:18Minister Hines was speaking on the TV6 Morning Edition on Monday.
04:22Nicole M Romany, TV6 News.
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