The State of Emergency in this country that began on December 30th, of last year and was extended by three months on January 13th of this year.....ends at midnight.
The National Security Minister tells Tv6 News that a reduction in the murder rate is just one of the successes that resulted from the S-o-E .
But can assurances be given that there will not be a return of a high level of murders and other acts of violence?
00:00TV6 News spoke with National Security Minister Marvin Gonzalez via telephone with just hours left before the end of the state of emergency, which did not prevent public gatherings and did not include a curfew.
00:14The National Security Minister referred to data he said he received from the police service.
00:19Of course, one would have hoped it could have been 50% or more. But these things, you have to take it as they come and you have to sit on a daily basis.
00:28So a 30% reduction in murders and other serious crimes is welcome news and we look to build on the successes as we go along.
00:39Minister Gonzalez said closer collaboration between the state's intelligence agencies is another success of the SOE.
00:47The other thing is that the law enforcement agencies, but in addition to that, they have confiscated over 200 firearms and a large assortment of ammunition,
01:03a large amount of drugs, cocaine and marijuana.
01:07They have ramped up a lot of police operations. I think there's over 3,000 or 4,000 police operations during that period of time because it was very easy and easier to get suit warrants.
01:20Minister Gonzalez said over 50 people, especially those involved in criminal gang activities, were arrested via preventative detention orders.
01:29As of yesterday, it is about 15 of those persons who were detained. They have been officers in criminal charges, so they have been taken into custody by the police and charges have been laid against them.
01:45The rest of them have been released and during that period of detention, we would have seen a significant reduction in murders that was as a result, would have been as a result of gang activities.
01:58So what assurances can be given that there would not be a return of a high level of murders and other serious crimes?
02:06The kind of assurance that you can give is regarding the commitment of law enforcement to learn from the depositors that came out of the state of emergency,
02:19which is the continued collaboration to ensure that we have credible intelligence information that will support police operations.
02:30Minister Gonzalez spoke about a decision on Friday regarding the weekly briefings held during the SOE since he was appointed the National Security Minister on March 17th.
02:41I will chair those meetings on a weekly basis and we will continue to ensure and resource the TGPS, especially their vehicle fleet, so that they can be able to respond to crime in a more reliable way and that they can have presence on our streets.
02:59There will be no emergency powers in effect going forward, including for the remaining two weeks of the campaigning for the general election on April 28th.
Be the first to comment