Police Commissioner, Erla Harewood-Christopher has stated the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service has taken note of a media release with the subject “Opposition Leader Urges TTPS Officers to Seek Legal Advice and tell the country the truth about the Brent Thomas Matter”, dated 27th May 2023, purported to have been issued by the Leader of the Opposition.
The release alludes to “allegations that members of the hierarchy of the TTPS are coercing and attempting to convince the officers who are implicated in this abduction to modify their reports to protect the Minister who may have been directing them all along.”
However, the top cop, via a TTPS release of its own, said that while it is not the intention of the Office of the Commissioner to be distracted from its urgent and onerous mandate of preventing and detecting crime, and to be lured into responding to every specious allegation that is made against it, this case qualifies as an exception, if only because it strikes at the very root of the integrity of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, which I am duty bound to nurture and protect.
The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service wholly and categorically denies the allegations being made in the Media Release and calls upon all citizens to be responsible in their utterances and to be mindful of the potentially adverse effects their utterances can have on the functioning of the organization and the implications for law enforcement in our country.
The Brent Thomas matter is currently before the courts and in the interim, the TTPS is obligated to manage any disclosure in relation to that matter in accordance with the propriety that is required for due process.
Finally, the Commissioner assured all citizens of Trinidad and Tobago that the TTPS will be responsible and professional in fulfilling its constitutional mandate and will continue to do so diligently, fiercely, fearlessly, and independently of the influence of all politicians.