| Statistics DIVISION PERSONS REPORTED PERSONS ABSENT Tobago 111 3 Eastern Division All persons reported to work Western Division 52 30 Northern Division N/A 23 South Western Division 114 26 Southern Division 97 83 Port-of-Spain Division 43 31 Central Division 65 31 North Eastern Division 89 23 |
why not pay the police on performance appraisals?
I don't understand the 40% increase nonsense....who gets that in any part of the world? Kamla might have to pull a Ronald Reagan and fire all ah them like he did with the Air Traffic Controllers....
They get $1k a month extra plus the proposed 5%. But to ask for a 40% increase is ridiculous.....If I was the PM, I not giving in on that either.... Plus they eh solving no fricken crime so what yuh paying them for? Please..... I agree with performance appraisals but that's also dangerous b/c if you put quotas on police real men (many innocent) go get lock up... It's a fine line but that's what happens when people could care less about the population and safety in general.
I don't understand the 40% increase nonsense....who gets that in any part of the world? Kamla might have to pull a Ronald Reagan and fire all ah them like he did with the Air Traffic Controllers....
They get $1k a month extra plus the proposed 5%. But to ask for a 40% increase is ridiculous.....If I was the PM, I not giving in on that either.... Plus they eh solving no fricken crime so what yuh paying them for? Please..... I agree with performance appraisals but that's also dangerous b/c if you put quotas on police real men (many innocent) go get lock up... It's a fine line but that's what happens when people could care less about the population and safety in general.
Well...here are the existing salaries.
Rank Existing Wages Total Costs
Constable 5123 8560
Corporal 6745 10182
Sergeant 8205 11842
Inspector 9735 13172
Asst. Supt 11535 14972
Supt 12397 15834
Snr Supt 14111 17548
Asst Comm 17319 20756
Well...here are the existing salaries.
Rank Existing Wages Total Costs
Constable 5123 8560
Corporal 6745 10182
Sergeant 8205 11842
Inspector 9735 13172
Asst. Supt 11535 14972
Supt 12397 15834
Snr Supt 14111 17548
Asst Comm 17319 20756
Are these their monthly salaries?
Absolutely, I was just as dismayed as everyone else. I also agree with you that negotiations have to take place. What really amazes me how people think both in trini and abroad. Most non-mgt people really have no idea about how businesses run. That said (I am not accusing you in any way), it's interesting to see what people ask for and the reality in expecting how it will be paid. I am not saying one way or the other, but like someone said in another post, if the police get anywhere close to that number, every other public servant will be up in arms and rightfully so. Again, is anyone really impressed with the job of the T&T police service? Seriously? So why pay exorbitant prices for something that obviously has a poor rate of return.I don't understand the 40% increase nonsense....who gets that in any part of the world? Kamla might have to pull a Ronald Reagan and fire all ah them like he did with the Air Traffic Controllers....
They get $1k a month extra plus the proposed 5%. But to ask for a 40% increase is ridiculous.....If I was the PM, I not giving in on that either.... Plus they eh solving no fricken crime so what yuh paying them for? Please..... I agree with performance appraisals but that's also dangerous b/c if you put quotas on police real men (many innocent) go get lock up... It's a fine line but that's what happens when people could care less about the population and safety in general.
I have always held that there are certain groups of public servants who should be well paid. People in the military and teachers. Just as 40% is ridiculous, 5% is just as ridiculous......its called collective bargaining......start at an extreme position and come to an agreeable position....
Ah hope yuh was just as incensed when an unqualified junior employee was going to get a 10 days and she pay moved from $5,000 to $45,000......she name Reshmi....yuh hear bout dat piece ah dotishness??!!
Ah hope yuh was just as incensed when dey give out these laptops in a programme that is not sustainable. As a police officer every time Gibbs or Ewatski talk to mih I would feel insulted. Ah hope yuh was incensed when dey getting million a year for what??!! What de 2 ah dem do since dey reach??!!
Ah hope yuh was incensed when dey proposed $2 million for rum, wave yuh rag (or advantage it ::)) songs.......
Arimaman for as long as I remember the Police Service has been starved for the tools they need to do the job. Yes some ah dem disgusting. Yes some ah dem corrupt. But I cyar fathom what it must be like to go to work and the building have a tree growing through it :o. Or de toilet cyar flush properly. Or the living conditions just poor overall.I like the facts that yuh bringing tuh the table. Very well documented indeed. I agree that those are downright poor working conditions. But, this is a democracy, correct......
Imagine in 2011 Police still doh have speed guns. A simple thing like a speed gun....we basically asking these people to fight crime with 18th century tools. And den pay dem peanuts on top of that. Where the return on investment going to come from??
Maybe things eh as bad as it is cuz I not inside dey. Maybe dey really getting treated nice, nice and dey really is just a setta greedy, lazy, corrupt bastards.....but ah have ah sneaky feeling dat eh the case generally.....
40 % is where they starting at. negotiations will probably bring it down to about 20%.That quote about putting yuh life in danger me eh agreeing with. Fact is, one "choose" to go into the police service, you were not drafted. So to me that is b.s.
Now, many blame the police for being slack, corrupt and lazy. I've even read on some forums that they should increase the minimum requirements to get in the service etc. Some saying fire them.
Now think about a job where you can be put in danger every single time you are on duty. Think about how important the service is. The fact is you cannot just go out and look for people who are willing to 'protect and serve'. So I think they should at least sit down and negotiate.
40 % is where they starting at. negotiations will probably bring it down to about 20%.
Now, many blame the police for being slack, corrupt and lazy. I've even read on some forums that they should increase the minimum requirements to get in the service etc. Some saying fire them.
Now think about a job where you can be put in danger every single time you are on duty. Think about how important the service is. The fact is you cannot just go out and look for people who are willing to 'protect and serve'. So I think they should at least sit down and negotiate.
the police are one of the main reasons why our nation is in this mess, they are moving further to destabilize the country and have an anti-govt approach to the PP.
if i was the pm , i would try to revamp the recruiting and get rid of these officers because they are not doing anything to improve the safety and welfare of the nation
i have a question for other posters, who many police strikes have happened over the last 10-15 years?
40 % is where they starting at. negotiations will probably bring it down to about 20%.
Now, many blame the police for being slack, corrupt and lazy. I've even read on some forums that they should increase the minimum requirements to get in the service etc. Some saying fire them.
Now think about a job where you can be put in danger every single time you are on duty. Think about how important the service is. The fact is you cannot just go out and look for people who are willing to 'protect and serve'. So I think they should at least sit down and negotiate.
You watching too much Starsky and Hutch movies... dis is Trinidad yuh talking about. Den again... de way fight does break out in some ah dem rumshop yuh could be right, clearly dat is ah workplace hazard.
This is from Hansard. From approximately page 27, Donna Cox in her capacity as former Junior Minister in the Ministry of National Security went into some detail about proposals for increasing the compensation of police officers. during the budget debate last year. From page 29 - 30 she talks specifically about this....
She was very detailed about it in a radio interview about last week or the week before. A lot of research went into the coming up with the figures mentioned. She said in the interview that monies were allocated for the payments. Kamla must be use it to buy the laptops....or was going to use part to pay Reshmi.... ::)
Anywho....
http://www.ttparliament.org/hansards/hh20100915.pdf (http://www.ttparliament.org/hansards/hh20100915.pdf)
I don't understand the 40% increase nonsense....who gets that in any part of the world? Kamla might have to pull a Ronald Reagan and fire all ah them like he did with the Air Traffic Controllers....
They get $1k a month extra plus the proposed 5%. But to ask for a 40% increase is ridiculous.....If I was the PM, I not giving in on that either.... Plus they eh solving no fricken crime so what yuh paying them for? Please..... I agree with performance appraisals but that's also dangerous b/c if you put quotas on police real men (many innocent) go get lock up... It's a fine line but that's what happens when people could care less about the population and safety in general.
Very good points... "performance appraisals" is not the solution, what criteria are you going to use to deny a man a pay raise? Also, I not too hung up on the 40% talk, that is a starting point for negotiations... just like 5% should be, except Kamla insisting that that is final. I don't agree with the sick out either, but Kamla can't pull a Regan since they not striking (the thread title is misleading[/b])... yuh can't fire a man for using his sick leave.
As I said in the comments TnT needs a Labor Relations Board (if there isn't already one in place) to deal with situations like this.
Talk. How can we justify purchasing equipment and conduct crime analysis valued millions of dollars but fail to adequately compensate the officers assigned to operate,manage and implement them risking their lives daily come on people let's admit that no amount of money will make most of us go into the hills of laventille or trainline in marabella or pinto hell no. I just want to feel safe again. Pay police officers a fair salary now. Pass this on so the authorities may hear the public's support towards the officers plight
That's why they brought a foreign police commissioner to assign a proper work load and to execute effectively. That's his job. However, part of his job also is to motivate the staff and it would be tough to do so without having the resources available to him. Not making excuses for the Police Commissioner but his job is macro and strategic in nature and a lot of people expect micro changes...I don't understand the 40% increase nonsense....who gets that in any part of the world? Kamla might have to pull a Ronald Reagan and fire all ah them like he did with the Air Traffic Controllers....
They get $1k a month extra plus the proposed 5%. But to ask for a 40% increase is ridiculous.....If I was the PM, I not giving in on that either.... Plus they eh solving no fricken crime so what yuh paying them for? Please..... I agree with performance appraisals but that's also dangerous b/c if you put quotas on police real men (many innocent) go get lock up... It's a fine line but that's what happens when people could care less about the population and safety in general.
Very good points... "performance appraisals" is not the solution, what criteria are you going to use to deny a man a pay raise? Also, I not too hung up on the 40% talk, that is a starting point for negotiations... just like 5% should be, except Kamla insisting that that is final. I don't agree with the sick out either, but Kamla can't pull a Regan since they not striking (the thread title is misleading[/b])... yuh can't fire a man for using his sick leave.
As I said in the comments TnT needs a Labor Relations Board (if there isn't already one in place) to deal with situations like this.
Yes its a starting point in reality in negotiations, so Kamla shouldn't have said 5% is the final because that riled up so many in the force to lead to take actions. The Police service was promises a huge salary increase, many equipment advancements, Global Positioning System (GPS)in every vehicle, safety & insurance for family members, and more. Only received a COP whos based salary was increased, dictatiing an increased workload in especially in hot spot areas but yet no pay increase for the ones whose hours and work has increased. Expect continued sick outs in many hotspot area and governmental areas
Talk. How can we justify purchasing equipment and conduct crime analysis valued millions of dollars but fail to adequately compensate the officers assigned to operate,manage and implement them risking their lives daily come on people let's admit that no amount of money will make most of us go into the h :rotfl:ills of laventille or trainline in marabella or pinto hell no. I just want to feel safe again. Pay police officers a fair salary now. Pass this on so the authorities may hear the public's support towards the officers plight
weary? is you type dat?...you in rehab or wha?
That's why they brought a foreign police commissioner to assign a proper work load and to execute effectively. That's his job. However, part of his job also is to motivate the staff and it would be tough to do so without having the resources available to him. Not making excuses for the Police Commissioner but his job is macro and strategic in nature and a lot of people expect micro changes...
Wrong attitude partner. I disagree with that. Change can't start from the bottom up, it never has and never will. What, the inmates will run the assylum? Please! What about all the "white" police officers from Scotland yard and pay them big big money, wasn't that an issue? In fact the gov't say they got the pay structure directly from the previous regime.That's why they brought a foreign police commissioner to assign a proper work load and to execute effectively. That's his job. However, part of his job also is to motivate the staff and it would be tough to do so without having the resources available to him. Not making excuses for the Police Commissioner but his job is macro and strategic in nature and a lot of people expect micro changes...
Yeah but in a small incestuous community like TnT where everybody is pardnas, any changes need to start from the bottom up. Morale took a blow when they decide to bring in a foreigner... a white man at that (I doh have issues with it, but let's not pretend the majority black force in TnT don't) and then you pay him a king's ransom while reneging on promises to the rank and file.
Wrong attitude partner. I disagree with that. Change can't start from the bottom up, it never has and never will. What, the inmates will run the assylum? Please! What about all the "white" police officers from Scotland yard and pay them big big money, wasn't that an issue? In fact the gov't say they got the pay structure directly from the previous regime.
Bottom line is they brought a foreign PC b/c he has no allegiance to anyone. In other words no partner partner thing. Yuh have tuh prove yuhself to the new PC.
Change can't start from the bottom up, it never has and never will.
Change can't start from the bottom up, it never has and never will.
Yuh referring to the policeforceservice in this case and not speaking generally about how life works right?? Cuz the Eyptian people might want to disagree.....
Change can't start from the bottom up, it never has and never will.
Yuh referring to the policeforceservice in this case and not speaking generally about how life works right?? Cuz the Eyptian people might want to disagree.....
Bakes, what you posted is exactly why I gave Gibbes 6 months before he ride out......dat date is March 14th. As of right now it seems like he goh be here pass that date. If so he either real brave or real dotish..... :-\
Talk. How can we justify purchasing equipment and conduct crime analysis valued millions of dollars but fail to adequately compensate the officers assigned to operate,manage and implement them risking their lives daily come on people let's admit that no amount of money will make most of us go into the hills of laventille or trainline in marabella or pinto hell no. I just want to feel safe again. Pay police officers a fair salary now. Pass this on so the authorities may hear the public's support towards the officers plight
weary? is you type dat?...you in rehab or wha?
Ok to quote experience, I'm on a director level for the gov't as well so I also know what I'm talking about. Been in the mgt game for the past 12 years dread so no need to explain tuh me cause like you I also know. Fact is mgt is not an exact science. There are multiple schools of mgt that all aspire to get to the same place.Wrong attitude partner. I disagree with that. Change can't start from the bottom up, it never has and never will. What, the inmates will run the assylum? Please! What about all the "white" police officers from Scotland yard and pay them big big money, wasn't that an issue? In fact the gov't say they got the pay structure directly from the previous regime.
Bottom line is they brought a foreign PC b/c he has no allegiance to anyone. In other words no partner partner thing. Yuh have tuh prove yuhself to the new PC.
Who said anything about inmates running asylum... you sure you read what I write?? You can't change the mentality of the workers by just bringing in some outsider with bright ideas and foisting it on the workforce, you need to change the mentality on the frontlines first in order to get buy-in. If man ent buying into what you bringing then you just wasting yuh time. You could say it has never worked but I telling you from first hand experience that that is how it is done... especially when you dealing with the public sector. Before changing careers I spent 5 years in management consulting, the last two working with HUD on improving some of their processes. Is the very same thing we encountered. Upper management was seen as being disconnected from the day to day concerns of workers... just like police officers on the ground in TnT view Gibbs. In fact that dichotomy existed even before Gibbs... top brass has always been seen as being out of touch. Change has to start from the bottom... Gibbs himself said as much when he first arrived talking about making the force more professional... you obviously can't do that from talking about it from up on Mt. Zion.
As for the white consultants from Scotland Yard... how de France is that even the same thing as hiring a white outsider to run the whole show? I know you understand the difference between a consultant and a CEO... the most obvious being that you don't have to take orders from no consultant.
I don't know what "wrong attitude" you talking about when I only presenting what is very likely the mindset of the rank and file constable in TnT. Doh argue with me argue with them.
Ok to quote experience, I'm on a director level for the gov't as well so I also know what I'm talking about. Been in the mgt game for the past 12 years dread so no need to explain tuh me cause like you I also know. Fact is mgt is not an exact science. There are multiple schools of mgt that all aspire to get to the same place.
Buy in comes from the ability of the people above to "listen" to their subordinates. It never works whereby the employees say we want this and we want that b/c point blank you'll never get a consensus from the employees anyway. I will continue to disagree that change has to start on the bottom. If yuh tell meh the PC should listen to his staff and make recommendations based on that, I'll agree. But change starts at the top partner. For all that say Egypt is an rare exception..
If was me, I wudda do all kinda underhanded stuff to the Police officers b/c what they doing is absolute crap. Putting the citizenry in danger in totally unacceptable. Nuff men wudda get stripped of their ranks. And for those of us that think it can't be done, think again. Management could create a "file" on anyone to either strip or fire yuh....
Ahhh...finally we getting somewhere. :beermug: :beermug:Ok to quote experience, I'm on a director level for the gov't as well so I also know what I'm talking about. Been in the mgt game for the past 12 years dread so no need to explain tuh me cause like you I also know. Fact is mgt is not an exact science. There are multiple schools of mgt that all aspire to get to the same place.
Therefore you prove my point... you can't say that change cannot begin from the bottom. Heavy-handed implementation of policy works best in the private sector, not in the public sector where employees are insulated from recriminations by policy and union protection.QuoteBuy in comes from the ability of the people above to "listen" to their subordinates. It never works whereby the employees say we want this and we want that b/c point blank you'll never get a consensus from the employees anyway. I will continue to disagree that change has to start on the bottom. If yuh tell meh the PC should listen to his staff and make recommendations based on that, I'll agree. But change starts at the top partner. For all that say Egypt is an rare exception..
This is what puzzling me... I dunno why you insist on interpreting this as letting the rank and file dictate anything. I never said that and even pointed that out earlier. When I say change has to start from the bottom up, policy might come from above, but you need to change the individual mindset of each and every officer on the ground in order for change to take root. Every constable has to start looking at his job as a profession and not a pastime... policing is not about the gun and uniform and the gallerying that it entitles you to, it's about being professional in the consistent and efficient execution of duties... perhaps the most important duty in all of society, the bedrock of law and order. Unless you get a man to recognize this then all the renting gun and drinking on the job and driving like ah mad man, on shoulder, against traffice etc. not going to stop. White man moses could come and hand down as much law as he want but them fellas go just ignore he and ride out the storm until the next CoP comes along. And when I say "them fellas" I ent just mean the low-level grunts... clearly the early dissatisfaction with Gibbs and how he was foisted on them is throughout the rank and file, on every level of command.QuoteIf was me, I wudda do all kinda underhanded stuff to the Police officers b/c what they doing is absolute crap. Putting the citizenry in danger in totally unacceptable. Nuff men wudda get stripped of their ranks. And for those of us that think it can't be done, think again. Management could create a "file" on anyone to either strip or fire yuh....
I self doh like the sick out idea and think it's a very dangerous tool to use... man like Selwyn Richardson get ambush, the retired police fella some weeks back... clearly it have a breed ah bandit who doh really care. To leave the PM, AG and CJ house unguarded... to not show up in court to prosecute cases... that is a slippery slope. But Kamla self fanning flames, man sitting down and watching how money getting spend vaille-qui-vaille, yet she taking a hard stance with them and telling dem to take the 5% or ride out. That is not sound negotiating practice if you ask me.
Ahhh...finally we getting somewhere. :beermug: :beermug:
Ah think we really saying the same thing but if the PC have any backbone he can get rid of people. Just because employees are unionized etc don't mean people cannot lose their jobs. This is a common misconception...
Jack: Sickout action by cops regrettable
'PM's lack of security a good test of popularity'
By Keino Swamber South Bureau
Story Created: Feb 16, 2011 at 10:50 PM ECT
(Story Updated: Feb 16, 2011 at 10:50 PM ECT )
WORKS and Transport Minister Jack Warner has described as illegal this week's sickout action taken by some police officers, in protest of the five per cent salary increase being offered by Government. He said it was unfortunate and regrettable.
Warner was speaking yesterday at the Couva North constituency office before touring the area to determine its road rehabilitation and drainage needs.
He was accompanied by Chaguanas Mayor Orlando Nagessar, MP for Couva North Ramona Ramdial, Minister in the Ministry of Works and Transport Stacy Roopnarine and other ministry officials.
"We in no way condone the strike action that is taking place, especially by the Police Service. But we are very thankful for those who are on the job and those who have decided to perform in the service of the nation," Warner said
Commenting on the absence of Guard and Emergency Branch (GEB) police officers from the private residences of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and Chief Justice Ivor Archie, Warner said it was disappointing the officers would take such action, "especially with the kind of Prime Minister we have".
"Our Prime Minister is approachable, open and amenable. But at the end of the day, I don't even think our Prime Minister needs security. She is the kind of person who could walk anywhere," he said.
"So, in many ways, I am saying this is a good test to see how popular or unpopular she is. She can walk anywhere, anytime without security. At the end of the day, we will see if the guys did something correct of not. However, I don't condone what they have done. It was wrong, it was illegal and it cannot put them in a good light."
Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar said the five per cent wage offer was final and the Government could not afford a 40 per cent wage demand.
Yesterday, Warner said the assertion by Opposition MP Pennelope Beckles-Robinson that the country is in a crisis as a result of the stalled negotiations was not a correct one.
"There is (also) no impasse. The fact is that the Government has said that we do not have the ability to pay the kind of money that the people are asking for," he said.
"I came back (from Jamaica) this afternoon about two o'clock, and I read somewhere where the (Finance) minister said if he had the money, he would pay them. If I had the money, I, too, would have paid them. We don't have the money and, therefore, you cannot get blood out of stone.
"The last Government did not give us the kind of latitude to pay the kind of salaries we want to pay, and people have to understand that and respect that."
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Jack__Sickout_action_by_cops_regrettable-116369774.html (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Jack__Sickout_action_by_cops_regrettable-116369774.html)
JW talking shyte as usual. If it illegal then take disciplinary action nah.........only ah set ah grand-charge and talk nothing else. He cannot charge none of them. Take two days, report to work and write ah sick letter.
hmm so where they found this money overnight? From cutting Suatt? ::) 20% is closer to 5% than the 40% asked for. If accepted it will be a win for Kamla. Police going to still negotiate and might at least settle for an offer closer to 23%... Alot of Police going to call off last minute for Chutney Monarch event tomorrow and Pan semis on Sunday if nothing better is offered.To the contrary, I think it will be perceived as a loss. You don't grand charge in negotiations. Yuh can't say yuh not moving from 5% and yuh get tuh 20, that's ridiculous. In fact, I losing respect by the day for the administration. That's really really weak. The PSA lining up already and rightfully so. As soon as "stike" action taking place, over 1 week, yuh cave in already, steups..... Absolutely a weak gov't. All this said, if this is in fact true.
de police win. dey eh have any more public confidence dey could lorse anyhow, so dey get 20% increase for dey same wuk. t&t sweet too bad.Right.... plus the PSA, Fire, Prisons, all ah them coming next... this gov't weak like hell....
de police win. dey eh have any more public confidence dey could lorse anyhow, so dey get 20% increase for dey same wuk. t&t sweet too bad.Right.... plus the PSA, Fire, Prisons, all ah them coming next... this gov't weak like hell....
hmm so where they found this money overnight? From cutting Suatt? ::) 20% is closer to 5% than the 40% asked for. If accepted it will be a win for Kamla. Police going to still negotiate and might at least settle for an offer closer to 23%... Alot of Police going to call off last minute for Chutney Monarch event tomorrow and Pan semis on Sunday if nothing better is offered.To the contrary, I think it will be perceived as a loss. You don't grand charge in negotiations. Yuh can't say yuh not moving from 5% and yuh get tuh 20, that's ridiculous. In fact, I losing respect by the day for the administration. That's really really weak. The PSA lining up already and rightfully so. As soon as "stike" action taking place, over 1 week, yuh cave in already, steups..... Absolutely a weak gov't. All this said, if this is in fact true.
It is weak, I'll never say it's right. 20%? Who gets that kinda increase especially in these economic times?hmm so where they found this money overnight? From cutting Suatt? ::) 20% is closer to 5% than the 40% asked for. If accepted it will be a win for Kamla. Police going to still negotiate and might at least settle for an offer closer to 23%... Alot of Police going to call off last minute for Chutney Monarch event tomorrow and Pan semis on Sunday if nothing better is offered.To the contrary, I think it will be perceived as a loss. You don't grand charge in negotiations. Yuh can't say yuh not moving from 5% and yuh get tuh 20, that's ridiculous. In fact, I losing respect by the day for the administration. That's really really weak. The PSA lining up already and rightfully so. As soon as "stike" action taking place, over 1 week, yuh cave in already, steups..... Absolutely a weak gov't. All this said, if this is in fact true.
Is it "weak" or is it "right"? Saying it weak is to imply that the hard stance on 5% was right all along... which it wasn't. This is where they should have been all along, somewhere in the middle... government start low, PSA start high and you settle in the middle. Where I agree with you is on the grand charging thing... that's not how you negotiate. They tried to call the Police bluff and they end up having to eat crow. Par fuh de PP course.
It is weak, I'll never say it's right. 20%? Who gets that kinda increase especially in these economic times?
Point well taken....Still think it's a very excessive though.It is weak, I'll never say it's right. 20%? Who gets that kinda increase especially in these economic times?
but a more objective assessment would take into consideration the fact that they've been operating on a wage freeze for the past 4 yrs.
Point well taken....Still think it's a very excessive though.
Warner said that the protest action by police, public servants and others had escalated since the PP Government assumed office, because “the prime minister is a woman, particularly an Indian woman...Everybody want everything same time.”
Warner said that the protest action by police, public servants and others had escalated since the PP Government assumed office, because “the prime minister is a woman, particularly an Indian woman...Everybody want everything same time.”
WTF??
No 20% pay hike for cops
Published: Sat, 2011-02-19 19:58
Richard Lord
Works and Transport Minister Jack Minister has dismissed reports that Cabinet had agreed to a 20 per cent pay hike for police officers. The report was carried in another newspaper yesterday. Warner denied the report when questioned about it after yesterday’s sod-turning ceremony to start construction of an elevated Uriah Butler Highway at the intersection of the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway yesterday. He said the highway project would take a maximum of 24 months to complete. Warner said about 750 people would be employed at the peak of construction.
He said no decision to approve a 20 per cent hike in salaries for police officers had been taken in the People’s Partnership Cabinet. “The cabinet of which I am a member, we never agreed to that,” Warner insisted. In his address at the ceremony, Warner said that the protest action by police, public servants and others had escalated since the PP Government assumed office, because “the prime minister is a woman, particularly an Indian woman...Everybody want everything same time.”
And he said the breathalyser had not had the desired objectives since being implemented in this country. “Breathalyser tests are done vie-ki-vie, so it hasn’t reduced the drunk driving on the roads, it has not reduced the carnage,” Warner said. He said new measures would have to be implemented to enforce the laws and as a consequence, 85 traffic wardens would be put on the nation’s roads to help curb traffic offences.
Warner also warned motorists against using their mobile phones while driving without hands-free devices. A law, which is now in effect, imposes a fine of $1,500 or three months’ imprisonment for anyone found guilty of breaching it. Warner said mobilisation for the start of construction of the $7.2 billion San Fernando/Point Fortin Highway would begin on Thursday.
Sloppy work by cops is cause
Published: Wed, 2011-03-02 20:12
Geisha Kowlessar
Akiel Chambers Often homicide cases are “screwed up from the very beginning” due to sloppy work on the part of the police. According to forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov, who is assigned to the Forensic Science Centre, St James, because of shoddy work many cases have gone cold. Citing the death of eight-year-old Daniel Guerra as an example, Alexandrov, in an interview yesterday, said while the manner of death may have been determined, the circumstances surrounding it were yet to be decided which may result in the probe becoming cold.
He added: “An autopsy does not solve the crime. It is part of the investigation. The police are supposed to provide certain circumstantial evidence which will include details and photos of the crime scene to paint a more comprehensive picture. “In most cases when a body is brought in the police don’t even know the name of the victim. They would say, ‘we just escorting the body.’ But police work is not an escort service.” He said although he developed a special form to be filled out by police to provide circumstantial information before an autopsy, in most cases that too was ignored.
In Daniel’s case, he said, little or no circumstantial evidence was provided by the police. He added: “The boy’s autopsy will not solve the case. It is the police who have to do their work by properly gathering circumstantial evidence from the very beginning and if that’s not so it would mean the police are lazy. “That’s why we have a detection of rate of seven per cent at best, because from the very onset cases are screwed up by the police because there is no gathering of circumstantial evidence,” Alexandrov said.
The pathologist wondered whether photographs were taken of tyre marks, or of footprints, near the river where Daniel’s body was found. Officers from the Crime Scene Unit (CSU), Alexandrov contended, were not properly trained and they “don’t have a clue” about the gathering of forensic evidence. “In the United States there are medical investigators to gather forensic evidence. In Trinidad most of the police don’t know the difference between blood and decomposition fluid. “Some of the officers don’t know the difference between close and distant range or the different types of calibres,” he said. Alexandrov added that medical investigators work in tandem with the police and were specially trained to detect wounds, rigor mortis and other material relating to pathology.
“The police would then gather the physical evidence,”Alexandrov explained. Daniel went missing around midday two Fridays ago after leaving his Bedeau Street, Gasparillo, home to go to a nearby parlour. His body was found in a river off the Tarouba Link Road, San Fernando, two days later. Alexandrov assisted in the first autopsy which was conducted by pathologist by Dr Eastlyn Mc Donald Borris last Monday and which gave the cause of death as drowning. A second autopsy, conducted by Dr Hubert Daisley, another pathologist at the mortuary of the San Fernando General Hospital on Thursday, concluded the child was strangled. A third autopsy, done by United States forensic pathologist Professor James Gill, determined Daniel was murdered, giving “asphyxia consistent with homicide” as the cause. About Valery Alexandrov
Dr Valery Alexandrov was born in Russia in March 1947 and became an American citizen in 1994. In 2007 he served in T&T as a pathologist under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), operating at the Forensic Science Centre, St James. He was subsequently invited back by T&T to work here. Prior to that, he worked in the state of Michigan in private practice as an independent forensic pathologist/consultant. Alexandrov has a wealth of experience, including working in several European countries, including Germany and Italy.
He is trained in pathology, forensic pathology, forensic issues in war crimes and torture investigations, forensic and somatic autopsies, anatomic pathology and toxicology. In 1987, Alexandrov was a member of the International Commission (USSR, Germany, Poland, and Sweden) investigating the mass executions of victims of Joseph Stalin’s purges and various other crimes against humanity. Daniel Guerra is just the latest young murder victim whose brutal end has prompted a national outpouring of grief and outrage. Some of the cases are still unsolved.
Here is a look back at some of those cases:
Sean Luke
Buggered to death: The body of little Sean Luke was found in a canefield near his home at Orange Valley, Couva, on March 28, 2006. The six-year-old, a United States citizen, would have felt no fear, smiling and laughing with the predator until he was stripped of his clothing and killed in a most agonising way. Pathologist Dr Eastlyn Mc Donald Burris found, during a preliminary examination, the killer inserted a sugarcane stalk into the boy’s rectum, and pushed it until it reached the child’s throat. His intestines were ruptured and other organs damaged.
He died from internal bleeding.
Akeel Mitchell, 17, and Richard Chatoo, 20, have been charged with the boy’s brutal murder. They were 13 and 16 when they were arrested.
Tecia Henry
Ten-year-old Tecia Henry went missing on June 12, 2009, and was found dead in a hole beneath a house in Plaisance Terrace, Laventille. Her partly decomposed corpse was found by a Cepep crew about four days after she went missing. An autopsy revealed the child was strangled. Reputed leader of Laventille’s Block Eight gang Ricardo “Docks” McCarthy, who was suspected of ordering the child’s murder, was discovered shot dead two weeks later. Henry, who lived on Essex Street, John John, with her mother, Diane Henry, and attended the St Rose’s Girls’ Primary School was sent to a nearby parlour but never returned home.
Hope Arismendez
The little girl’s battered and bruised body was found in a canefield in Petersfield, on the outskirts of Felicity, on May 29, 2008. Hope, eight, was raped, buggered and stabbed to death. Her semi-nude body was left on a dirt road in the canefield, which runs parallel to Pierre Road, Charlieville. Homicide detectives said there was a stab wound to the anus and a knife was recovered from the canefield. Hours before the victim was to be given her final farewell, her alleged killer Sunil Ali, 28, slashed both his wrists with a razor blade and hanged himself with a bedsheet in his prison cell at the Remand Yard, Golden Grove Prison, Arouca.
Inmates in cells nearby raised an alarm and Ali was found by prisons officers hanging from the ventilation blocks of his number seven cell, located at the Top Security Block on the eastern side of the Remand Yard.
Akiel Chambers
Akiel Chambers, 11, was found floating in a pool at the home of Charles and Annelore James at Haleland Park, Maraval, on May 24, 1998. No one saw Akiel get into the pool but when his body mysteriously surfaced the following day, he was wearing a man’s swimming trunks. An autopsy proved the boy was a victim of sexual assault.
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