Opposition leader in Trinidad wants Police Complaints Authority reforms modelled after Jamaica’s INDECOM

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Leader of the main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) in Trinidad and Tobago, Pennelope Beckles, on Tuesday called for the government to “immediately” amend legislation to improve the powers and investigatory procedures of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA).

In a statement, Beckles, an attorney, said the PCA should be modelled on Jamaica’s Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), “which will allow features such as on-scene site evidence preservation and access by PCA personnel immediately upon the occurrence of police killings.”

INDECOM is a civilian-led law enforcement oversight body responsible for undertaking independent investigations into actions by members of Jamaica’s security forces, both police and military, as well as other agents of the state that result in death, injury, or abuse of rights.

“My call for PCA action is closely tied to the Opposition’s persistent demand that the Government legislatively mandate the use of body cameras as part of the disciplined management of police powers across all entities that are legally allowed use of force, including such that can result in death,” Beckles said.

She said legislation relating to the PCA and the use of body cameras would ensure transparency, accountability, and protection for both officers and civilians alike.

Beckles’ call follows controversy surrounding the police decision to charge the common-law wife of a 31-year-old man who was shot and killed during a police shoot-out in January.

The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) said warrants had been issued for the arrest of Kaia Sealy following the January 20 incident, during which police fired upon a vehicle in which she and her common-law husband, Joshua Samaroo, were travelling.

She has been charged with three counts of shooting with intent to cause grievous bodily harm at police officers, as well as manslaughter, with police alleging that Sealy, who was shot multiple times during the incident and left paralysed, unlawfully killed Samaroo. She also faces other related charges.

CCTV footage captured the January 20 incident, showing police officers opening fire on a car following a crash, killing Samaroo, 31, and leaving Sealy, who was seated in the front passenger seat, critically injured and paralysed.

In her statement, Beckles also criticised the decision of Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander to cancel the procurement of body cameras, saying the country “has no information on this matter whilst the country wrestles with unabated murders, continued home invasions, the murder and loss of our children during the State of Emergency, which is fast coming to an end with the jaundiced expectation that some national ‘emergency’ will suddenly emerge warranting more protection for a few government ministers...”

Beckles said that “from the vacuum of her silence and absence, the Prime Minister, as the Head of the National Security Council, has finally emerged by text message once again to now gift the Nation with two cryptic quotes and the promise of a Chancellor of the Judiciary, an increase in the age for consumption of alcohol, use of marijuana and gambling.”

“As Leader of the Opposition, I consider it a dereliction of duty for the Prime Minister to fail to address the need for the balancing of rights in ensuring that citizens and law enforcement both witness the protection that will be afforded by better transparency in police operations with improvements in the PCA and by body-worn cameras,” Beckles said.

She said, "It is undeniable that suspicion in police action has taken unnecessary root in the matter of the charges brought against Sealy”.

“The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is one of the last bastions of hope for this nation.

“The Prime Minister knows that the DPP cannot offer an explanation to the Nation at this point in the Sealy matter and instead of taking prudent recommendations from the Opposition, she appears to believe that the Nation is in good hands with Prime Ministerial statements courtesy of selected media,” Beckles added.

The opposition leader said that “no citizen should have to wonder if we live in an unchecked police state, especially where the fact and reality is that we have operated under a failed state of emergency for 10 out of the last 12 months.”

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