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00:00Parents, strongly caution, this program contains some material that is unsuitable for young
00:22children.
00:53Beyond the Tape will be back after these messages.
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01:32It starts here, with the Trinidad Express Newspapers.
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02:01It starts here, with the Trinidad Express Newspapers.
02:17It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
02:48It starts here, with the Trinidad Express Newspapers.
02:54It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
03:00It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
03:06It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
03:12It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
03:16It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
03:21It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
03:26It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
03:31It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
03:36It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
03:41It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
03:46It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
03:51It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
03:56It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
04:01It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
04:06It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
04:11It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
04:16It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
04:21It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
04:26It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
04:31It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
04:36My client has endured two days of unrelenting,
04:41questioning, interrogation.
04:46She has endured this interrogation as a suspect who has been cautioned.
04:51And in light of that, that ordeal she has endured,
04:56she has endured, I have advised her that though she wishes to speak, this is not the time.
05:06So if you have any questions, please direct them to me. What I would say that what happened
05:14here is an outrage. It is outrageous because the Commissioner of Police was questioned
05:24not as a person from whom the officers wanted information, but she was cautioned. And we
05:32all know, or we should know, that a caution is administered to a person against whom the
05:40officer has reasonable grounds to suspect the person has committed an offence. I sat
05:46through with my junior, Mr. Warner, the interview of the Commissioner. And at the end of this
05:53interview, it was lucidly, lucidly clear that there was not one drop of evidence against
06:03the Commissioner. So the burning question, which I would like answered, is who is the
06:09senior officer that authorised the arrest of the Commissioner of Police on material
06:18that did not establish grounds to suspect. And certain aspects of that interview were
06:27unfair to the Commissioner. For example, I'll just give you one example. She was asked,
06:35or she was told that the investigating officer had, and may I say this, rather odd that it
06:43was a very junior officer interrogating the Commissioner of Police. And I must commend
06:50the Commissioner for the calm that she displayed, her demeanour during her questioning. I want
06:58to salute her. And I want to assure the nation that they should maintain faith in the Commissioner
07:04of Police. She is a strong woman. Maintain faith in that officeholder. Maintain faith
07:10also in the Director of Public Prosecutions, who was strong enough, I'll put it in very
07:17simple words, to tell the police officers, look, get away from here. Release the Commissioner.
07:27So one wonders, what was the basis for the arrest? And this is what I keep asking. Why
07:34wasn't she questioned without an arrest? During the questioning, she was told that
07:44the officers had evidence that she and other persons unlawfully procured the firearm ammunition.
07:54And the question I asked of the officer, who are the other persons? If you are telling
08:01my client that you have evidence that she and other persons did an unlawful act, fairness
08:07dictates that you identify the other persons. And the response of that officer was that
08:14he would not divulge the names of the other persons. Right? So again, I am very happy
08:21that the Director of Public Prosecutions was able to see the lack of any evidence. I am
08:29very glad, happy, that he shows that there is a true separation of powers existing in
08:36Trinidad and Tobago. And as I said, I want to know who orchestrated this. Was it designed
08:44to humiliate the Commissioner? Is there a hidden agenda somewhere there? These are questions
08:51which will be answered. But as her attorney, I would advise her that this matter not rested.
08:58So let me bring you full circle since Saturday evening. Yesterday, we learned that the Police
09:06Service Commission had written to the Office of the President requesting the nomination
09:12of DCP Junior Benjamin to act as Commissioner. And of course, ACP Kurt Simon to be promoted
09:18to act as Deputy Commissioner of Police. The Police Service Commission also wrote to the
09:26Commissioner asking her to cease reporting for duty until further notice. Now also yesterday,
09:34the House of Representatives would have sent out an order paper indicating that for discussion
09:41on Wednesday in Parliament would be for those nominations to be approved by Parliament.
09:47And what I can tell you is the latest was that Senior Counsel Pamela Elder this afternoon
09:55sent a letter, a pre-action protocol letter to the Chairman of the Police Service Commission,
10:01Dr. Wendell Wallace, in two pages, essentially, which I have in my hand. And she spoke about
10:07the fact that it's noteworthy that there were no particulars whatsoever about misbehavior
10:13in public office. She also indicated that their client's arrest was not affected pursuant
10:19to a warrant issued by a judicial officer. And their correspondence to the Commissioner
10:26did not state that you were informed of the name of the arresting officer and the reasonable
10:30grounds for suspicion that our client was guilty of the offense of misbehavior in public
10:35office. And she also contended that the PSC was required to request, obtain, and carefully
10:42assess the material which afforded reasonable grounds for suspicion before suspending their
10:49client, which is, in this case, the Commissioner of Police. And also indicated, of course,
10:54as a result, Pamela Elder, the Senior Counsel, stated, the PSC's decision to suspend in the
11:01opposite circumstances is shocking, unlawful, and ultra-varies the constitutional powers
11:07of the PSC. As an independent and impartial body charged with the responsibility of protecting
11:13the rights of our client, it was unlawful for the PSC to suspend the COP without having
11:18before it any material whatsoever from which it could independently and impartially assess
11:24the evidence, if any, against our client. And, of course, they have been given until
11:292 o'clock tomorrow afternoon to rescind those letters sent to the Commissioner and also
11:34to the President's Office, or else judicial review will be taken up by Senior Counsel
11:41Pamela Elder. So that is the latest on this particular story that has really morphed over
11:48the last five days. Yeah, and I think we could expect some legal
11:52maneuvers to take place from here onwards. Mark, I did wear the cap of Vice President
11:59of the Teachers' Union in charge of industrial relations at one point in my career. And key
12:06to this issue, really, is the issue of principles of natural justice. And I believe that is
12:12what Ms. Pamela Elder, as she is referring to, ensuring that everything is transparent
12:20in terms of what's going on. I know the Commissioner was given the right to be heard in terms of
12:27the arrests and questioning. But in terms of the reasons for her suspension, in principles
12:36of natural justice, that person must be given a clear indication as to why that person was
12:43suspended or why that person was interdicted. And so I think those are the grounds she has
12:49stated clearly that there may be judicial review. And I might add, if not, that some
12:58injunction to stop what action is being taken on Wednesday. So we could expect some legal
13:05maneuverings as this entire thing unfolds. Yes, you're so right about that. Because,
13:09you know, if they initiate the judicial review, of course, or the injunction, then the matter
13:14cannot be discussed or the nomination cannot go forward on Wednesday in Parliament. So
13:22we will obviously be monitoring that story. Captain, and thanks for your valuable input.
13:27And I know over the weekend, you also had your anniversary. Yeah, we celebrated. Yeah,
13:32we celebrated four years and I'm being in this business of search and rescue. Mark,
13:39you were with us in the field when we started in the Andrea Barrett search. I know we communicated
13:45a lot during that search. Yes. And it was just a group of volunteer hunters and hikers
13:51who decided to join the police service to look for Andrea Barrett. And what happened
13:56was that we decided we'd want to continue what we started on that particular day. And we've done
14:04so much in the last four years. We have a great team, great individuals who volunteer the service
14:10free of charge to Trinidad and Tobago to ensure that families who are missing their loved ones
14:17can count on our assistance day or night. And we've been going day and night for the last four
14:25years. Mark, we were out on the field five out of the last seven days doing field searches. So
14:31we continue to be strong and we continue to try to help these families whose loved ones go missing.
14:37Right. I know you have some updates as it relates to Justin Thomas and Vishnu,
14:42the alien gentleman that was found in the Devil's Woodyard. Right. So last Tuesday,
14:47as you are aware, Justin Thomas had difficulty while swimming and we went there early on
14:55Tuesday morning. Mark, we got there at 6am, a two hour drive to Palisiko, which meant that we left
15:01home early. And these are the volunteers here. Tunga, yeah, leading the charge, as he always
15:09does. And we were able to locate Justin's body at 8.10am, very early in the morning. Mark,
15:15there wasn't any cellular service there. So we had to boat from there and run all the way three
15:22kilometres back to our starting point to be able to communicate with the police and the family and
15:29tell them, inform them of our discovery. And here it is. I had to comfort his sister, Kamene Thomas,
15:37because she was just, I found her running down the beach and had to tell her, no, you can't go
15:44down there alone. Look at the rocks there. She could have easily tripped in this determined effort
15:50to get to her brother. And I thought it wise to take her back to base and wait until we had
15:56gathered everybody to take them to visit the site. So I know they're looking at Wednesday for the
16:03funeral. And when we left there Tuesday, we went to Newgrant, where there was a missing person,
16:09Vishnu Puranlal. And he was missing for some time. And again, the team is so well structured,
16:17that with CCTV footage, we were able to determine that he went down a grassy track on the side of a
16:24galvanized fence. And there it is. At about 2.20pm on that Tuesday, we were able to locate his body
16:32in a shallow ravine, just submerged within a few minutes beneath the water. His autopsy was done,
16:40and it was, cause of death was determined to be drowning. And I think it's an elderly person,
16:48most likely dementia or something like that, who drifted away. But he would have spent days around
16:54there before he actually drowned in the river, because his body was almost in perfect condition.
17:00And he was missing for like five or six days. And I know you found Christine Rasool last night?
17:05Yeah. Christine, again, we had a three-day painstaking search for Christine Rasool. We
17:13utilized, we utilized drone and CCTV footage, a tracker from on the highway in Claxton Bay,
17:24down to St. Margaret's. Eventually, we found out by true identification of a vehicle that
17:32she was picked up and taken to Cuva. And while we were talking to the gentleman in Cuva,
17:39asked question in him about why, what, what became of Christine. She was located in Cuva. So I
17:48suspected he knew we were on her case and she was released and just dropped off in the Cuva district
17:56where she was picked up by our members. So that was three days. It ended last night, three days
18:02of tough work to get Christine alive and back home. I want to thank the police there at St.
18:08Margaret's Police Station, Sergeant Hillier in particular, and our member Kesraj Sukhnanan for
18:16doing a lot, a lot, a lot of work in acquiring CCTV footage for this case. But she's back home
18:22and well, and hopefully she can get some assistance for her problems. Right. Certainly good news there.
18:29And I know today is day 36 of the state of emergency. We want to quickly bring you up to
18:34date with the figures thus far. Number of operations, 1,953. Priority offenders, 1,731.
18:44Switches conducted, 12,387. Traffic operations, 1,667. Total persons arrested, 1,522.
18:53Traffic offenses detected, 5,875. Firearms recovered thus far, 73. 1,532 ammunition recovered.
19:01And last but not least, dangerous drugs seized, 164,380 grams of cannabis and 1,198 grams of
19:11cocaine. Yes, with the police continuing their exercises across Trinidad and Tobago,
19:17we want to take you quickly to our headlines.
19:19All right. Those are some of your headlines. We're going to take a short break and we'll be back. Stay with us.
19:50If you hear how things are going now, it's nice. It's nice at all, at all. And let me say one word.
20:02You see Trinidad, I'm an old school man and I have good age watching me here.
20:07You see Trinidad, Trinidad could never, ever come back like how we was before.
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20:51Hot 93 and JMMB Bank are ready to burn. We're back at the spacious Movietown car park in Port
20:59of Spain every Tuesday and Thursday at 4 p.m. starting February 4th and ending February 20th.
21:05It's back. Carnival burn. Six days of real endurance and fitness from the fun and
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21:36What's up you guys? I'm Ren and I'm Kim and welcome to Conversations with Ren and Kim.
21:41With Kimberley, we've got exciting new season two drops right here on TV6 at 7 30 p.m. on Saturdays.
21:47We have lots in store, lots planned this season. We promise it's going to be way better than season
21:52one. But yeah, I'm excited to see what season two brings and I know that all viewers
21:57are equally excited as us. Yep. So let's go.
22:14Welcome back to Beyond the Tube. I'm your host Mark Wessan, joined today by Captain
22:17Valens Ramarat from the Hunter's Search and Rescue team. We want to take you to a video
22:22of a tempted carjacking a couple of days ago. Let's just take a look.
22:33All right. I don't know if we have that video. There's some issue. All right. There it is.
22:44So the occupants of this vehicle stop here. This white vehicle, I believe,
22:50coming into it. This is in the Woodbrook area, just near one Woodbrook place. And we see at
22:57least two occupants coming out of a vehicle and going towards a nearby, I believe, an SUV.
23:06And it seems that there might have been somebody in the vehicle there.
23:11They stop suddenly as they come out onto the corners here. And then I don't know what,
23:21he seems to be armed and they run away. Rather strange. In some measure, I don't know what
23:31happened there. Who was in that vehicle? Well, it seems as if the owner would have,
23:36Well, we saw him take off on the corner there, and I'm sure that he would have immobilized the
23:41vehicle. Or he has a gas, some gas switch to trigger the shutting down of the vehicle. Many
23:50guys utilize these anti-theft devices. And that is what would have happened there. And again,
23:59you're seeing the brazenness of these young men just to stop and acquire persons' property,
24:07expensive, valuable property. Indeed. Any time, any day, any place. Of course,
24:12if you have any information, conduct in the nearest police station or the Woodbrook police station.
24:17And we are going into the segment now. You know, you're going to be updating us on the missing
24:21persons for this month or from January. And we're going to be updating you on the missing persons
24:29for January. So at January, at the end of January, we had 28 reports of missing persons,
24:36just three below the monthly average of one per day. And thus far, we were able to
24:44not account for nine persons. And the first one, Mark, is somebody we've been dealing with
24:50for some time now. For the last maybe 34 days or so, we've had no evidence of proof of life.
24:59Harry, absolutely none. The mother has evidence of the person she was last seen with on New Year's
25:08morning at 1.28 a.m. We passed all the information on to the police to try to locate the gentleman
25:16who is called Ants. And up to Saturday, we were in the field trying to follow up on some
25:24information. But up to now, no proof of life for America, Harry, and we are concerned.
25:31Kimaya Bishop continues to be missing. We know where she is. And she's a repeated
25:38missing person. And we know she will get back home safely eventually. And so to his destiny,
25:44Matthews, repeated runaway teenager, and we're familiar with her. And we know she will get back
25:50home soon. Keston Koto. This gentleman is missing. And we really fear the worst has happened to
26:00Keston. But nevertheless, we're trying hard to locate him. And there's no proof of life for
26:06Keston Koto thus far. Kiana Vidal. Well, we continue to work on her case. And hopefully
26:15by this week, we should be able to have her back home. And so to Onika Holder, we've not been able
26:22this week to work really on these missing teenagers, because we were out on the field
26:28for five of the last seven days. So to Miley Castillo, we have to resume work on her case.
26:38I'm sure work would have resumed today. We're trying to get as much information on Sorendra
26:44Sukram. We're in contact with the family. And we believe we hit the field this week on this case,
26:51based on information that we may get shortly. And Adrian Kissoon, his mental health is compromised.
26:59And you know, Mark, when this happens, they go wandering all over Trinidad. And sometimes
27:05unfortunate things happen. Last year, we had two incidents where they were victims as pedestrians
27:13of road traffic accidents. So we had to pay attention to them. And then we come.
27:20Mark, I thought we'd have a small discussion on these three missing persons from last year.
27:27We had Winston Rostant, Junior Taylor, Shashi, and Rampersad. And you know, an event occurred
27:36last week, where the police, they, based on information, they were pointed to possible remains
27:44buried in the, I'm trying to, the D-Bay area, Long Circular. And they thought they had information
27:55to recover the remains of Shashi and Rampersad. It turned out that they found an identification
28:04belonging to Winston Rostant. So it may be that that body could be that of Winston Rostant,
28:12and Junior Taylor, and Shashi, and Rampersad still remains outstanding. So we're making an effort
28:23with the police to do some work on Rostant Taylor, right? Not Rostant, Junior Taylor,
28:30so that hopefully when I get back here next Monday, I can report on that.
28:35So those were the missing persons that we had for January, and there's some follow-up on those
28:40three other guys. All right, we hope that, you know, you can locate them in the shortest
28:45possible time. We're going to take a short break, and we'll be back after this. Stay with us.
28:50I used to open this business, right, when I opened in the morning from six, I close at nine. I can't
28:55do that now. I ain't taking no chances, because who have eyes, let them see, and who have ears,
29:00let them hear.
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30:06Carnival on the Rooftop returns to take your season to new heights. Join your favorite hosts,
30:12Whitney and Shiny from Red 96.7 FM, and Marlon Hopkinson from The Morning Edition,
30:18as they bring you the energy, the vibes, and the culture. Enjoy electrifying live performances from
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30:54Welcome back to Beyond the Tape. I'm your host, Marcos, and I'm joined today by Corporal,
30:58sorry, Captain Valence Ramarata. I'm going to give you a new rank there,
31:02from the Hunter Search and Rescue Team. Now, we have a new segment today. It's called Voice of
31:07the People, where we go to communities to find out some of the burning issues that are affecting
31:13persons, and some of the solutions or suggestions that they have to make their community a better
31:20one. This was actually in a northeastern settlement in Sangre Grande, accompanied by
31:25Cameraman Brandon Bedmore. Let's take a look.
31:29So,
31:49you've been living in this area? Well, practically, nearly close to 40 years.
31:54What was life like before your community was labeled as a hotspot for crime?
31:58Well, before I come here, it was beautiful. I am talking about in the years gone by, right?
32:05But something kind of started to kick up. You see, here we're going on with being in this country,
32:11and I had to bring the country into this, because the country causing this.
32:15Ever since we, Prime Minister, bringing them Spanish into this country,
32:22it's a lot of things going wrong. A lot, a lot of things going wrong, because I'm going to tell you
32:28what's going on. Everybody has a gun in Trinidad right now. We didn't know nothing about guns.
32:33I was a man living here, I never used to hear guns shooting and things. Guns going off, so now,
32:38like, if it's cops, they're busting. You understand what I'm talking about? And that's
32:42true, because they're lapsing, and making these people, and them coming here with their goods,
32:48putting their goods down on me, you understand? Selling their goods for me, right? They're
32:52selling their goods, because they're coming in with it, selling it for me. The littlest boy
32:56have a gun, when you go underestimate a man, don't underestimate nobody in this room.
33:00The littlest child, 14 years, 12 years, don't trust him. Don't trust him, because you go
33:06hating on him, you understand? Now, here I was so loving and so peaceful and things,
33:12but all of a sudden, since these Spanish and them coming in the wrong way,
33:16too much of a gun here in the place. Well, this man getting killed, well, people getting killed,
33:21all about, all up, so, also, all about, so, all in the front there, all about, all about,
33:27I'm going to tell you all about, all about, all about. So, the place just get confused
33:32with this killing, killing business, boy. I used to open this business,
33:38right, when you're opening in the morning from 6, and closing 9, I can't do that now.
33:42I ain't taking no chances, because who have eyes, let them see, and who have ears, let them hear.
33:48What going on right now, you can't trust nobody. You can't trust your right hand in your left
33:52pocket, you understand? Because a man go set you up, you go tell him, look, I know a man,
33:57he just opened his shop late, he done make a little money, he go pass around, he go pass all
34:01here, see where he could get, shake me out, you understand? So, through the course of that,
34:06I learn a little thing now, I taking up a thing, I close earlier, like, like, I go close all 7
34:13o'clock, the latest I'm go to is about 10 past 7, 12 past 7, long time ago I used to go to 9,
34:18half past 9, you understand? But now, if you hear how things going now, it ain't nice,
34:24it ain't nice at all, at all. And let me say one word, you see Trinidad,
34:30I say old school man, and I have good age watching me here. You see Trinidad? Trinidad could never,
34:37ever come back like how we was before. Hear what I tell you, and take that wood and put it in your
34:42pipe and smoke it. Trinidad going on a different side. This thing like Y-scene, it's only Venezuela,
34:49when we go Venezuela, they end up take my wife back, they just see she coming, she back on the
34:53ground, she back on the run, but that come here, that day here, none point. You can't walk with
34:58your bag on, you can't have a piece of gold. I just take a chance with this piece of gold in my
35:02hand. You can't have a piece of gold. You see, you have to look out, if you hear a shadow,
35:06you have to watch to see if you know that man or if you don't know that man, because
35:10everybody is a gunner man. This crime thing real hard to stop now because the speed it's going at
35:15there now, it's going at 90 miles per hour. It's really going hard. Long time you could have go
35:20outside there, you sit down, you lie, nobody has studied, nobody, nobody has studied, nobody, but
35:26now you have to study everybody. You understand? You see a man pass, you have to, even if you don't
35:33know, you have to watch him to make sure. Let me scope your face a little bit. Long time was
35:38different to know. What would you say is the effectiveness of the police in terms of engaging
35:44the community? Uh-huh. All right. All right. All right. But they're bad. They're so bad. They're
35:50so bad. They're so bad at all because I see plenty of little crime happening now for how people call
35:55them and they're responding very fast. Very fast. So I can't put no blame on the police. I can't put
36:01no blame on the police. They're trying. They're trying. They're trying. If I say they're trying,
36:05I'm just lying on them. But boy, we have to come together too, you know. We have to form some kind
36:10of group or something, but I just say still that can't stop it. I just sit down and study, just
36:14like how you're asking me questions. I just sit down and study that, you know. I say, even if we
36:19form a group, that ain't going to be enough. It ain't going to be enough. Everybody come together.
36:25We have to keep like a chain. Everybody's spinning to one. Because if your head hurt you,
36:31my head go hurt me. So something wrong with me, I go call my neighbor. My neighbor go call now one
36:37day. That's the only way we go try to keep something going. Otherwise, we can't keep doing this thing.
36:43Voice of the People, Northeastern Settlement, considered one of the most, I guess, volatile
36:53areas for gang violence. And many people have remarked over the last couple of months, it's one
36:58of the most dangerous areas to visit. But clearly, there is the need for the community to come
37:03together. And Captain, I know you visit all over the country. All over the country. We've been
37:09there many times. And the gentleman, I must say, is very intelligent. Very, very intelligent. I
37:15listened carefully to what he had to say. And the Andrea Barra search. When we moved through areas
37:20like Duranta Gardens and Jacob Settlement and Northeastern Settlement, I mean, I was shocked.
37:26And I know he pointed out the Spanish element. But I want to also say, Mark, there has been a
37:34vast migration of persons from West Trinidad into East Trinidad. Sangre Grande was once a
37:41quiet town. Now it is an area where you have thousands, if not, maybe close to hundreds
37:50of thousands of people now occupying squatter settlements from Sangre Grande all the way to
37:55Valencia. And we move through these communities. I remember I was here showing you a burning car.
38:02A gentleman was found in Sangre Grande area. And so the issue really is that migration of persons
38:10to that area. Because land is available. You get free lands. They squat. They build some
38:15shanty houses. They start housing. But with that comes the crime. Comes the gun. Comes the drugs.
38:21And I think that is what has enveloped Sangre Grande. And it's really a district now with a lot
38:27of incidents. We have a lot of persons who go missing between Valencia and Sangre Grande.
38:32And when you track it back to, they always leave, the teenage kids always leave that area and make
38:38their way back west, whether it's B-town or Morva or Lavant Hill or those barritories, our area.
38:46So we know that there's mass migration. The Spanish migrant population, yes, they come.
38:54They got the bad and the ugly. And yes, we know that there are criminal gangs within the Spanish
39:01migrant community in Trinidad. And as he explains, they are there. And if he says so, I believe him.
39:09Yeah, certainly. And you look forward to more segments like that, Voice of the People,
39:16nicely put together there by our producer. And certainly, you know, we want to hear from you
39:20guys. So as time rolls on, we will obviously be visiting a community or an area and talking about
39:27various subject matters that affect persons because I think that's important.
39:31And he did make a suggestion in terms of how to improve the community. He said the police were
39:36doing a fair job and he made suggestions, which is what you have to do. Keep communication open
39:43amongst yourself in order to protect yourself. Yeah, certainly. And you know, when I visited
39:49some areas, I spent a good half day there. And what was interesting is that some of this rivalry,
39:55as you will hear later on, involves two guys that grew up together and now on opposite sides of
40:01defense. It's amazing. And that's causing all this violence. So you fight for turf and you fight
40:08for who to sell the drugs to. We must sell to all the guys in this area. Another guy, if he's
40:13no, you have too much. I must get someone. And always the rivalry, but they're not talking it
40:19out. They're using weapons, guns to solve their problems, to eliminate competitors.
40:27All right, we're going to take a short break. And when we come back, we'll take a call. Stay with us.
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41:45And Saturday 615 p.m. Coming real. It's the next episode. The Rule of Sports on I-95.5 FL.
41:54With Andre Errol Batiste. Are you ready for the next episode? Hey.
42:02It's the one and only D.R.E.
42:15Welcome back to Beyond the Tape. I'm your host Mark Bassan. Joined today by Captain Valence
42:23Rambert from the Hunter's Search and Rescue Team. Remember the numbers to call 623-1711. Extensions
42:291996 and 1997. And of course in the midst of this controversy and this dabble involving the
42:39Police Commissioner, you know, we have a situation where there was a viral, a video that went viral
42:48with DCP Junior Benjamin preaching at a church where he was wearing a bulletproof vest. And
42:56of course today at the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service press conference,
43:01he explained the circulation of that video. Let's listen.
43:05I want to start today, this afternoon's press conference, to address a video that has been
43:14surfacing. And that video showed that I was preaching in my church
43:23on August the 4th, 2024. And I had on a bulletproof vest. I was sharing with members
43:32of my congregation. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to start off by saying it was an illustrated
43:40sermon that I was giving on the topic at the time, battle warning. And as I was addressing the whole
43:49idea of battle warning, I was just showing in battle that we must always be prepared.
43:57And therefore the bulletproof vest was there to show that battle readiness. I want to make it
44:03categorically clear that I do not wear bulletproof vests every single Sunday. And I want to say that
44:12it was done on that particular day as a way to demonstrate to the audience that we are in a
44:21battle, a spiritual battle. Notwithstanding, in that video, I think many persons would hear me
44:32make mention of the fact that I would be a commissioner of police. And I would like to
44:38address the context of that statement. In the sermon, battle warning, I stated that we ought
44:47to be strong. And that is something that we all need to be in times of struggles,
44:55that we need to know that we can find strength in God. And we can also find strength in our
45:02positive affirmations. And therefore I went on further by explaining to persons, giving
45:11examples that I, as an individual, would find myself when I'm down, encouraging myself
45:21with these affirmations. One of those affirmations is that I will not die before my time, that I will
45:27be a commissioner of police, that I'll be a very good commissioner of police. And I would also say
45:32that, hello, I will be a leader of leaders. These are affirmations that has helped me
45:37to be where I am today. And even as I look into the windscreen of my future,
45:42that I believe it is important for us to dream the impossible dream.
45:50DCP Junior Benjamin there, speaking to the media earlier today. And of course, giving context to
45:56that video clip that surfaced on social media yesterday, approximately from six months ago.
46:05And to be fair, of course, you know, I guess it was edited in a specific way and released
46:14six months to the date, at a time where we have this volatility existent in the TTPS.
46:21In the TTPS, yeah. But I looked at his body language. I'm an excellent teacher. I know
46:26from my career, I'm looking at his body language and the manner in which he explained the video.
46:34You have to give him credit, because what he's indicating is that he used the bulletproof vest
46:41as a teaching aid. And then the other part was to ask persons to always aspire to be the top.
46:48I mean, I wouldn't hide it. I always aspired to be a teacher, a principal, a school supervisor.
46:55And still, I may have other goals to achieve right now. And he's talking about looking in
46:59the windscreen. So I looked at his body language, and I believe his response, it was sincere.
47:06But I want to point out one thing to you, Mark. As we grow our democracy, the parliament now
47:14has some better scrutiny over who is appointed as Commissioner of Police and DCP and what.
47:21That level of scrutiny that DCP Junior Benjamin underwent by the media today,
47:30I think that is what is required, is not debate among politicians, but to actually put the person
47:37in the chair and question them about every single thing that they did for their entire lives.
47:44You know, the Congress, the US Congress, will bring you before their committee and ask you
47:50every single thing. I think that is the stage we need to reach. I don't think it's only for
47:56politicians to put up a name and then debate the name and say yeah or nay. They must bring
48:02these persons and question them before a committee, so that everything could be
48:08dealt with. I enjoyed how he dealt it. I think he dealt with it frontally. He brought it up for
48:16himself, unprompted from the media. He started the conference that way. He knew he had to deal
48:21with it, especially in this type of situation that the TTPS finds itself in. Not to take sides,
48:30you know. I guess anybody, when they want to aspire to a job or whatever it might be,
48:36they have to speak into existence in some measure. He did say at the beginning of that
48:43press conference that he does not wear bulletproof vests every Sunday.
48:49But he used it as a teaching aid for the sermon he was delivering.
48:55All right, I think we have a call on the line. Caller, good evening.
48:58Good evening to you and your guests. I'd just like to know that the captain, he's
49:03doing a spectacular job, along with his team, and we praise him on the purpose that he's doing
49:08on the earth as a minister for the country. Sorry, you have a great,
49:15a great, great purpose he's doing for everybody in Trinidad and Tobago. So we praise him
49:20and continue the good job. And how does one get about going about joining the team, that is?
49:27Much appreciated, caller. Thanks for the encouragement for us to continue.
49:32Our contact number is 799-1453. You can reach us out, reach out to us on WhatsApp or Messenger
49:41or TikTok and indicate to us your willingness to join the team. Someone on the team will contact
49:48you and go through some bare minimum requirements. But most of all they will ask if you have a
49:55passion to do this and you want to do this as a volunteer. All right, yeah, certainly. I know
50:02that it's a very demanding job, even though it's a volunteer position. Yeah, but why we continue,
50:08not just mentally, but physically, is really we've built a nice family, a family of fun-loving
50:14persons. We've had one death. We've had a marriage, two marriages. We've had one baby
50:21within this huge family and we treat each other like family. And I'm hearing of a wedding
50:26coming up shortly as well. You don't let the cat out of the bag as to who's getting married.
50:31Not as yet. Well, we will see. I hope at our wedding I get an invitation. Sure.
50:38So yes, we just continue that discussion, I guess, with this whole situation. It's
50:45rather fluid with the police commissioner and, you know, so many other questions that the public
50:51are looking on with interests that is happening, you know, because every day something else is
50:57emerging. And I think, Mark, generally the population of Trinidad and Tobago, I have
51:03great respect for them, right. And I think most of them are intelligent and I think they're looking
51:08at this and they're looking at fairness, what is reasonable and what is just in the whole situation.
51:16And I think the Public Service Commission, we're not aware of the letter that was received by the
51:26Miss Herewood Christopher from the Police Commission, right. But I did see the letter.
51:31Oh, you saw the letter. So it was sent to me. But I think people want to know what are the contents.
51:37I know you, the Pamela LDS, she spoke about the contents of the letter. But they just want to know
51:44that if the Commissioner of Police was suspended, then we ought to know why.
51:52All right, we're going to take a short break and when we get back, we'll have more. Stay with us.
52:14New Charles chocolate with zero sugar added. Charles guilt-free chocolate goodness.
52:24Guess what, everyone? Today on our class trip to the Nature Seekers Centre, we saw amazing animals
52:30and learned all about their solar PV system. That's wonderful, Dolly. Well, come and tell us more.
52:35They showed us how solar power works and how it's helping them save money and the environment.
52:40Wait, wait, you said save money and we get to save the planet too? That sounds like something
52:45we should look into, sweetie. So, you have any more pictures? Yes. Solar power to the people.
52:54This is my first time here. Hopefully, it's my last. My dear friends, here we are, all in our true colours.
53:10Your transfer papers, your key to the Mvule kingdom. Hi, I'm... Lisa, I know. Here are your clippers. Clippers.
53:20Who's in? We are perfect. We run this place. So, let's act like it. Solomon, the head
53:28prefect, quick. Is my colour straight? We'll be out of Mvule High before you can pronounce the word
53:33scholarship. We have a mystery to solve. The only way we can make a difference is if we stick
53:41together. When I'm head prefect, each and every student will have a voice. You need to show that
53:46news quick, Mvule High. I hate this school.
54:04Welcome back to Beyond the Tape. I'm your host, Mark Wessan, joined today by Captain Valence Rambarat of the
54:09Hunter Search and Rescue Team. I think we have a call on the line. Caller, good evening.
54:15Hi, good evening. I have a short question, right? I will have seen the DCP preaching in his church, in his private capacity.
54:26And my question is whether the bulletproof vest is one that belongs to this team. And if using the state's
54:35property in your private capacity is something that should happen, right? I believe that
54:45there's some kind of breach in relation to what is taking place.
54:50All right. Well, I would want to check before I make any statement.
55:01I'm sure he's the same caller, of course. Point taken. And I know, you know, there might be some
55:08leeway. I don't know. I don't want to speculate at this point. Yeah, I myself. Yeah, let's leave that
55:14alone. All right. So anything in closing, I guess, you want to tell the viewers in the next couple
55:22of minutes? Well, Mark, our team is fully supportive of the Toronto and Tobago Police Service.
55:29Right. And where we can, we do try to work. Well, we always work with them, but where we can, we try
55:35to lift the police service with us. It's rather unfortunate what unfolded from Friday to today
55:42has happened. But these things do happen. And I'm just saying that after all of this is said
55:50and done, I hope there is a sense of normalcy that returns to the police service and whosoever is
55:58appointed to lead the police service, that all policemen and women out there will support their
56:05leader. Because we are in the middle of an SOE, all hands are required on deck at this time,
56:12and we want the police service. We know there will be some falling out, but we hope that healing
56:17returns and they can heal quickly and get back to the business of protecting and serving the
56:23citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. And you raise an interesting point, and I just wanted to get
56:28your take, because you would be interacting with a number of police officers across the country
56:34for various matters. And I'm sure even during that conversation, things might come up.
56:40You know, what is the feeling like, I guess, talking to some of these police officers,
56:44having to work in the midst where the upper part of the TTPS is now under heavy scrutiny.
56:51We have so many things happening at the same time. What was the consensus like for them?
56:55Well, we did speak to police officers on the weekend while we were searching, because we
57:00always have to liaise with them. And this discussion did arise, and I will tell you,
57:06Mark, it has impacted on the police officers in the various police stations. But I think their
57:12concern really remains the question of, if they were in a position like that, that they would
57:19want to ensure that there is reasonableness, fairness, and justice in the whole procedure.
57:25And I think that is their biggest concern, that there is justice, there is reasonableness,
57:34as they look on and see one of their colleagues being taken through a particular process.
57:40Yeah, certainly. And you raised the question, and I think the senior counsel, Pamela Elder,
57:45also raised the question of fairness, you know, punching holes in a number of the,
57:52at least inconsistencies in terms of when a client was in custody and so on. So definitely,
57:57you know, it's something that we will be monitoring over the next couple of days.
58:03And I think it's an interesting week ahead, and I think Trinidad citizens should stay engaged
58:09on this issue. Yes, certainly. All right. Remember, we run tonight at 11.30. Another
58:16repeat tomorrow at 11 o'clock. For all the latest, the TV6 News is up next. Stay with us.
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