Griffith: Carnival events safest place to be

Police Commissioner Gary Griffith says he is confident the police can maintain law and order during Carnival events, as they are partnering with other protective services to protect everyone.

Speaking with reporters after a training exercise at the St James Police Barracks on Thursday, Griffith said while recent murders were unfortunate, the police intended to follow up the success of Carnival 2019 to ensure a safe Carnival for visitors and locals alike.

He also urged the public to be careful rather than fearful when attending events and said they would be the safest places to be,dowing to the heavy police presence.

"Every single event, through the Ministry of National Security, has a co-ordinated effort. There is an operational plan. So for every single event the police will be out in full force. "So probably the safest place to be in TT will be attending Carnival events.

"I want the public to be comfortable. Tthere is no need to be fearful, but you do need to be careful as to how you operate at events. But we are out in full force at every single Carnival event."

Griffith also said all 7,000 police officers will be on duty on Carnival Monday and Tuesday.

"Every single street corner, there will be two police officers. We intend to be up close and personal this year. The Minister of National Security has agreed to have the Defence Force support us on the outside of events as well."

Also present to observe the training session was National Security Minister Stuart Young, who denied there was any correlation between recent murders and the Carnival season.

He said he was also confident the police would enforce the law for the celebrations.

"Every murder is one too much.

"There is no correlation to Carnival whatsoever, the police are working very hard at it as well as the intelligence services, we have all hands on deck.

"What we are seeing right now is a lot of reprisals with gangs and gang activity leading to shootings."

He said the number of guns in the hands of crminals was of major concern to the government.

"This is why we've taken legislation to the Parliament, in particular legislation that goes after anyone found in possession of automatic firearms."

The training session involved the Guard and Emergency Branch, the police mounted branch and canine units as they prepared human and animal personnel for Carnival conditions by simulating fetes, using police recruits to play the roles of masqueraders and revellers.