National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds says much more could have been done in the fight against crime, if law enforcement had the full support of the public and the opposition.
He also expressed his belief that the majority of society wants to see him fail.
Hinds made the remarks at a media conference at his ministry’s Port-of-Spain headquarters on Monday, during the handover of the Draft Firearm Users Licenses (FUL) Policy and the Draft National Border Security Policy by the Office of Law Enforcement Policy.
He said that between the Opposition’s reluctance to support certain policies and the resistance from criminals, he felt a total of 70 per cent of society was against crime-fighting efforts.
Hinds said, “I came into this business understanding that 70 per cent of society does not support this effort or want to see us succeed.”
“How did I arrive at 70 per cent?… at the level of the Parliament, I say 50 per cent want to fight rather than join in the fight and then the other 20 per cent, I would say are those who are likely to commit crime and are involved in it and anti-social behaviour and so on.”
“I put 50 and 20 together and I say 70 because lawbreakers and criminals don’t want national security to succeed, but it would really be nice if we had full support, but even so, we understand the turf, we understand what is required and fight we will.”
He told citizens national security agencies are only at the front of the war against crime.
“It would be nice if I ever felt that I had the full weight of the society behind me, leading national security, leading all the organisations of national security in our collective fight as a nation, because, after all, it’s you that elected me, it is you who pay me, you are the boss, it would be nice if I felt I had all of your support.”
He said most of what is done by his ministry cannot be seen but this does not mean they are not functional.
“I estimate that about 85 per cent of what we do in National Security cannot be discussed in the public… and therefore, don’t misunderstand silence for lack of care, lack of concern, it is far from that. It is simply for a respect of what we do and the way in which it ought to be done and the very essence of the very nature of things national security,” he said.
Hinds noted: “We are finding far more high-powered weapons in the place, so I believe that it has to do with the availability of weapons.”
He said no matter how hard police work to remove these illegal weapons, they still find their way back in.
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