00:00Attorney General John Jeremy says Trinidad and Tobago could not afford to return
00:04to the level of gang violence that prompted the previous administration to declare a state of
00:10emergency in 2024. As he piloted the special operations bill in the lower house, Jeremy
00:17defended the legislation as necessary to strengthen the state's response to criminal gangs.
00:24Attorney General Senior Counsel John Jeremy opened debate on the special operations bill by
00:30pointing to what he describes as more than a decade of unchecked gang activity. He recalled
00:36the bloody end to 2024 when 622 people were killed. We took office after a year of bloody carnage
00:46that saw 626 persons slaughtered in calendar year 2024. Jeremy also referenced the previous
00:58government's declaration of a state of emergency on New Year's Eve 2024. A chastened band of
01:09degenerates in defeat declared themselves a state of emergency on Olya's night 2024.
01:20The Attorney General lamented that the following day, gangs immediately answered. A state prosecutor
01:27in gang-related killings in the employ of my office was slaughtered on Olya's night in Sydenham Avenue,
01:40Cascade. He was leaving church with his family after delivering a sermon on the goodness of God.
01:51When, with clinical precision and obvious meticulous planning, it did not happen just so, a black SUV
02:01and a Nissan B-15 ambushed his family. He was referencing the brazen murder of state prosecutor
02:11Randall Hector. That one incident, one example, is but one example of the terror that we escaped as a country.
02:21A glimpse of what might have been today had they not been removed from office.
02:29Jeremy subsequently disclosed that the individual allegedly responsible for orchestrating the killing is now in custody.
02:37The individual who is alleged to have commanded that it has been a resident of Tetron since last year,
02:49cut off from communication with his network and unable to exhibit the level of contempt for the rest of us
02:59that kept those opposite timid, silent and unmoved.
03:05While acknowledging an improvement in the country's security situation, Jeremy said the government
03:11intends to maintain its fight against gangs through the proposed legislation. He defends the decision to
03:18classify the bill as requiring only a simple majority. Jeremy argues that the measures strike a
03:25necessary balance between public safety and individual rights.
03:29We have examined the constitutionality of the proposed legislative measures and we consider
03:37that the interest of the population in peace and order trumps the relevant individual rights
03:48that might possibly be infringed by the proposed measures. Among the bill's key provisions is the
03:56establishment of seven policing districts, six in Trinidad and one covering Tobago. Each district will have
04:03a police head and a military head with both required to submit monthly reports. Within a designated closed area,
04:11the police would be empowered to enforce restrictions through measures including barriers and roadblocks.
04:16The use of cordons and curfews within a closed area. The regulated movement into and out of a closed area
04:29by establishing a mandatory permit system. So general access or egress from a closed area is strictly prohibited
04:41prohibited without a valid permit. And while the measures give the state significant powers,
04:48the bill contains a two-year sunset close.
04:53That story brings us to tonight's people meter. We ask, do you believe the special operations bill will
05:00improve the security of Trinidad and Tobago? To vote, text yes or no to the number 766-4886 or 766
05:09-4TV6.
05:10And we'll have the results for you at the end of the newscast.
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