00:00Tell us, tell the people of Maloney why the Anti-Gang Act is not sufficient for you to function.
00:11Opposition Chief Whip Marvin Gonzalez's call for answers from Police Commissioner Alistair Gravaro the day after an order was issued
00:18declaring the Maloney Buildings Housing Development, Maloney Gardens, Maloney, a closed area with a 9 p.m. to 5 a
00:26.m. curfew.
00:27The wide powers given to police officers under the Anti-Gang Act, the Criminal Law Act, the Home Invasion Act,
00:35the Offenses Against the Policies Act, the Dangerous Drug Act, the Firearms Act, Criminal Law Act, the Interception and Communications
00:43Act.
00:43Tell us, what about those pieces of legislation that somehow is insufficient for the police to function effectively to tackle
00:56the issue of crime and criminality in Trinidad and Tobago?
01:00During a media conference, the Police Commissioner said the relevant threshold for the declaration of the first closed area under
01:07the Act was met.
01:09Opposition Senator and Senior Counsel Faris Al-Rawi filled out a question from TV6 News about something else the Police
01:16Commissioner said.
01:17In terms of the issue of advance notice versus persons having an understanding of what being in a closed area
01:26and the curfew would mean for them.
01:28How do you balance those two things?
01:30Sure, well, I joined with MP Robinson Regis and with the Commissioner of Police that it would be idiotic to
01:38announce I'm coming to regions, you know, A, B, and C, so, you know, districts 1, 3, and 4.
01:44You can't do that.
01:45Obviously, the element of surprise is perfectly legitimate and justifiable.
01:50Our complaint has nothing to do with that.
01:53Law enforcement must have the element of surprise.
01:56However, Senator Al-Rawi made reference to certain provisions in the Special Operations Act.
02:02No politician should be vetting a policeman or member of the Defense Force or telling you what to put in
02:08a report.
02:09That is a breach of the Constitution and the separation of powers that ought to happen.
02:15So we take no issue with the element of surprise.
02:19If it is to be done, so be it.
02:22We support it.
02:22The question is, are we ready for its operationalization?
02:27Is it being carried out within the law?
02:29And are we in our constitutional safe zone?
02:32The MP for Maloney, Camille Robinson Regis, expressed her concerns for who she said were the many good people in
02:38Maloney,
02:38as she claimed the cordon went beyond Maloney Gardens to certain areas close by.
02:43From my reading and also looking at World War II films, when the Gestapo and Hitler were first bringing Jews
02:58into closed areas,
03:01that was the first thing that they did.
03:03They started in a small concentrated area and started, and then eventually it spread to large swathes of the country.
03:15And it's a similar situation.
03:18Very, very similar.
03:19And that is, that is very frightening for us in Trinidad and Tobago.
03:25While the government has said that all the relevant safeguards are in the Special Operations Act,
03:30Senator Alwari said that it is set to be challenged in court,
03:34a challenge that could go all the way to the Privy Council.
03:39Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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