Another G-Unit gangster slain

Source: T&T's Newsday
By RHONDOR DOWLAT Wednesday, January 9 2008

A 22-YEAR-OLD man who was questioned by police in connection with over 20 murders committed in a three-year period, was himself murdered outside an apartment building in Cocorite yesterday.

However, investigators claimed the mortally wounded man was taken by persons unknown to Port-of-Spain General Hospital. He was dropped off at the Accident and Emergency Department by the persons who left without telling hospital officials anything. When doctors checked on the man, he was already dead.

The victim was identified as Keiron “Blood” Burnette of Waterhole, Harding Place. Police said he was a member of the G-Unit gang. According to a police report, at about 10.30 am, residents of Building 5, heard several loud explosions and on checking, saw blood on the ground and a car speeding off.

An investigating officer yesterday confirmed that Burnette was a member of the G-Unit gang and was questioned numerous times for murders in Port-of-Spain, Cocorite and surrounding areas. However, the officer said that a motive was yet to be determined.

Burnette, police said, had several matters pending before the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court for firearms possession, shooting and wounding. At the scene yesterday, family members and residents refused to comment on the incident.

On September 16, leader of the G-Unit gang, Kerwin “Fresh” Phillip of Charford Court was shot 20 times by gunmen armed with semi-automatic guns, while walking to his car at the corner of Oxford and Henry Streets, Port-of-Spain at about 1.45 am. He died on the spot.

Another member of the gang, Allan “Mento” Wills of Siparia Hill, East Dry River, was gunned down three days later, on September 19 near the Corner of Prescott Alley and Quarry Street in Port-of-Spain.

On October 5 at about 9 am another gang member Kwame “Butters” Julian, 26, was seen standing along Observatory Street talking to a taxi driver when a lone gunman walked up behind him and shot him in the back. Police said that when Julian slumped to the ground, the gunman stood over him and fired several shots killing him instantly. Police confirmed that he was shot more than three times in the head and back.

Investigations are continuing.

To put it mildly, I'm not sorry that Keiron “Blood” Burnette was shot dead. To put it even less mildly, I don't mind if other members of his G-Unit gang and members of other gangs, suffer the same fate. What's the point of wasting state resources to stop gang members from killing one another? Wouldn't these resources be better spent protecting innocent and hard-working citizens from these same gang members who's past time - when not shooting each other at point blank range - is terrorising the hard-working populace of Trinidad and Tobago?

I say let them kill each other. The last time Manning organised his little meeting of "community leaders" in Crowne Plaza Hotel to stop the gang warfare. The end result was a sudden rise in criminal activity in Central and South Trinidad. You see, when these gangs are not warring with one another, they find other things to do, like rob, rape, murder and kidnap your average, hard-working citizen.

Gang warfare is the best thing that could ever happen to Trinidad. Put the joint army/police patrols in Central and South Trinidad, where criminals are more likely to strike. These gangs are doing the Government and the General Public a favour by slaughtering each other. Let them be I say! Just make sure when they (the gangs) settle their differences and kiss and make up, that the police and army are ready to come out in full force to protect the hard-working citizens who are trying to make and honest dollar, from these same gangs who will be looking to terrorise the population.

DEAD END

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Police ACTUALLY catching criminal...WOW!!!!! I'm in shock. The thing is, this will only be temporary. As soon as people start forgetting about the crime, things will go back to normal. After all, Carnival is not too far away, you feel people have time to study crime? Well besides the POS merchants whose stores are going to get robbed right before Carnival, in the dead of the night, by some bandit who gets in through the roof.

Then we see 17 murders in the first 8 days of 2008 (a 425% increase as compared to the same time last year - let mih see you spin them stats nah Martin!). What more can I say but this is what you get when you vote PNM.

Joseph's crime plan fails to impress

Source: Trinidad Express
Julien Neaves jneaves@trinidadexpress.com

Tuesday, January 8th 2008

NATIONAL Security Minister Martin Joseph's presentation on the motion "Government's efforts to combat crime" in Parliament yesterday, continued Government's trend to make excuses for the crime problem and not deal with the critical question of impunity, Senior Counsel Martin Daly said.

Speaking in a telephone interview hours after Joseph's presentation, Daly said it was fine for him to state that drugs were a worldwide phenomenon and for new Social Development Minister Dr Amery Browne to speak about the alienation of youths during their respective presentations. However, he said they needed to explain why it was possible for a citizen to kill with complete impunity, yet the police were unable to catch and prosecute anyone.

He said one issue was the volume of crime but the other, and equally important issue, was the lack of effective policing and criminal justice systems.

Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers' Association (TTMA) president Karen de Montbrun meanwhile said Joseph's presentation was just "regurgitated", and many of the plans were discussed three and four years ago.

"There obviously have been problems with implementation," she added.

De Montbrun said implementation of plans "as usual is the problem", but no one was being held accountable for this. She said the police service also appeared to be inadequately staffed, trained and outfitted.

"It is incomprehensible that a country like Trinidad and Tobago, with ever increasing inflows of US dollars, should find itself unable to implement such policies and strategies to curtail crime," she said.

Commenting on Joseph's statements that many of the crimes were linked to the drug trade, De Montbrun pointed out that some guns involved in the drug trade came through the country's ports, and lamented that the TTMA had been calling for scanners at ports for a number of years but it was yet to be implemented.

Secretary general of the Maha Sabha, Sat Maharaj, in his response, claimed that Joseph was using "bogus figures" to show Government was winning the battle against crime, when it was actually losing it.

He pointed out that while Joseph showed a reduction in some crimes from 2006 to 2007, there was actually no drop in crime but an increase, as the minister was forgetting to mention what percentage of crime was no longer reported.

"He was failing to tell the population that people are not willing to report crime because they might be reporting to criminals (in the police service)," Maharaj said.

Maharaj noted that a Minister of National Security must have a personality that gives confidence, but Joseph, however, has a "mickey mouse" personality and does not radiate confidence.

"He cannot convince people or make you feel confident," he said. He added that as a citizen of this country, he was not comforted by Joseph's comments and suggested that he should have announced what new crime initiatives were taking place.

Maharaj joined calls made by Opposition politicians for Joseph's resignation.

I think we can all agree that the statements made in this article do echo the cry of the people of T&T. No one has any confidence whatsoever in Martin Joseph and he should resign with immediate effect. It's sad to say that Prime Minister Patrick Manning once said that Martin Joseph is the best Minister of National Security he has had, even though at that point in time, crime was escalating. It therefore leads me to the same conclusion that I'm sure most right thinking people will come to, and that is the PNM isn't concerned with the citizens and only concerned with filling their pockets. Therefore it is time that they be removed from Government and replaced by a more competent group of people. Five years is a really long time to wait. By the time the next general election is due, we would most likely see around two thousand more murders, or who knows, we may even see two thousand and twenty murders or 2020. Maybe this is the vision 2020 that Patrick Manning continually speaks of. 2020 murders every five years. Well it looks to me like he is well on his way to achieving his target.

New unit, vehicles to deal with crime

Source: Trinidad Express
Denyse Renne drenne@trinidadexpress.com

Monday, January 7th 2008

The Police Service intends to implement a new unit to deal with the spiralling crime rate this year.

Sources say members of the protective services will soon be equipped with a new fleet of vehicles which will come with state-of-the-art global positioning systems and computers.

Commissioner of Police Trevor Paul, during his weekly press briefings, has vowed to wage war on criminals and has assured citizens that matters implicating police officers will being "thoroughly investigated".

Last Monday, Paul lamented, that "the approach to address this (crime) major societal problem in Trinidad and Tobago has been a single focused one. The Police Service and ultimately the Ministry of National Security is blamed for the state of crime in our country..."

Paul further went on to say "Of all the institutions that are responsible for socially conditioning our young people to be good and productive adults, it seems from this inappropriate analysis, that the Police Service is the culprit....this kind of narrow analysis will not offer the right solutions to our crime problem..."

On January 23, following the slaying of WPC Elizabeth Sutherland, her husband Ivan, daughter Anika and family friend Kevin Surrette, Paul promised an all out war against the criminal elements.

With a promise to bring the attackers to justice, Paul said he considered the murders "personal" and planned "to match the criminals aggressiveness."

Paul further noted his officers would no longer be treating with criminals "with kid's gloves on."

Less than two weeks after declaring war on criminals, Paul was called upon to answer an allegation made by former Caroni Central Member of Parliament Ganga Singh who stated there was a "death squad" in the Police Service. The allegation came after police shot dead four men in Central Trinidad.

Paul dismissed the claim, but noted his officers will continue to treat with criminals the same aggressiveness they met.

Then there is the issue of statistics which is presented at the majority of press conferences held by at Police Administration Headquarters. Several of these figures are flashed to the media and members of the public to show the progress on certain crimes being on a decrease. But as fast as these statistics came showing a decrease, criminals were again busy showing that numbers do lie.

How many times have we heard Trevor Paul talk about new vehicles and new police units to suppress crime? Since last year Trevor Paul has been "waging war" against criminals and yet we have close to 400 murders in 2007 among other serious crimes. How stupid does Trevor Paul think the citizens are? It's like been there and done that with him. Recycle the same ideas every year and just give it a new name. Since the PNM came into power and appointed Howard Chin Lee and then replace him with Martin Joseph they've gone from A to Z with names for different crime plans. Trevor Paul is a total waste as Commissioner of Police. Every year crime gets worse and no one is being held accountable. What is this Vision 2020 really about? More crime, more corruption and more suffering for the citizens? Less accountability, less transparency and less value for money? Well if that is what Vision 2020 is all about under the PNM then I want no part of it. Time to get rid of the PNM and this PNM-like Commissioner of Police!

Jack Warner: Joseph should resign

Source: Trinidad Express 060108

A letter of resignation ought to have accompanied National Security Minister Martin Joseph's admission of failure on crime, UNC Deputy Leader Jack Warner stated yesterday.

"Any Minister who admits to the magnitude of such a failure should have done the honourable thing and resigned," Warner said. But, he added, in the PNM, nobody was held accountable for anything which is "why it is very easy for people to get away with murder under the PNM and why people are rewarded for being non-achievers (under the PNM)".

Told that supporters of Joseph were saying that he was "man" enough to be honest and admit to failure, Warner quipped: "And it takes an even bigger man to resign. His colleagues who are all little boys would of course revel in the fact that he, unlike them, has admitted to failure and has admitted to the limits of his capabilities. Because I tell you the traffic on the roads, the flooding etc, all these things are reasons for us as a nation to be angry," Warner said.

But, the Chaguanas West MP stated that the Prime Minister was the most culpable of all, because he insulted the country when he reappointed Joseph as Minister of National Security. "If any indictment were to fall on anyone, it is (on) the Prime Minister," Warner said, adding that the PM had a duty to ensure during this term of office that "he does not impose on the country the evils of the past".

Warner was also highly critical of the Police Commissioner: "You know what sickens me to the core? In advanced countries where crime is a problem, on the first day of the year, you see images where the police, the government, the security forces are in battle gear fighting crime. You see it in Toronto, in New York, in London. The Commissioner of Police with his men in the hot spots in battle gear. So I would have thought that my Commissioner of Police on New Year's morning would have been with his men in East Port of Spain, in Laventille and Morvant. But no, my Commissioner of Police was dancing away in the night, while seven people were killed. What are you saying to the country which is infested with crime, while you dancing the night away, kissing his wife...while people are being murdered. And that man is given a one-year extension."

He added that the Commissioner was following the PM whose only image to the country on Christmas Day was to recommend the drinking of a bottle of Louis XIV which sells at US$1,000 a bottle to deal with the common cold.

Warner also wanted to know if anyone held "those guys who have come from England" (Scotland Yard detectives) to account. "Has anyone asked them to account for their stewardship? They know the beaches of Maracas and Las Cuevas in the last few years better than I know in the last 30 years? Has he ever asked Stephen Mastrofski to account for the kind of obscene salary he has been receiving for the past three years? How do you judge his success? What are the results?"

In April 2007 Joseph revealed in Parliament that $80.8 million was paid to Mastrofski and Partners over eight years to transform the Police Service.

Warner said the Government was trying "to steal a march" on the Opposition by bringing this motion on crime. "They were also trying to give the illusion of collective responsibility, of consultation and of trying to find a solution. No way we are going to fall for that. Absolutely not! If they want to bring a motion, let them put in it in words, in song or even in sign language, for themselves...Let them go to their Minister of Education, let her word it for them," he said.

Warner held out no hope for Joseph's new crime plan. Noting that this country had had more crime plans than any other nation, he said Canada with a population of 40 million, had 116 murders in 2006.

"So there are lessons to be learnt from Canada, but if you dancing the night away, you have no lessons to learn," he said.

Couldn't have said it better Jack. There is no accountability within the PNM, only corruption and nepotism. It's obvious that Manning doesn't care about this country, otherwise he would not have re-appointed the totally incompetent Martin Joseph as Minister of National Security. If Martin had any cajones he would have sent in his resignation but instead all he does is hold another press conference and talk a pack of garbage for the semi-literate PNM fanatics to gobble up whole-heartedly. Time to get rid of the PNM.

Belmont man gunned down

Source: Newsday
By RHONDOR DOWLAT Saturday, January 5 2008

WITH four days already gone in the New Year, the ninth murder was recorded yesterday when a 23-year-old man of Belmont was gunned down.

According to a police report, at about 6.12 am, Sean Wade of Upper Belleau Road was walking along the road not too far from his home when he was approached by three gunmen who opened fire. The gunmen reportedly escaped.

Wade was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. However, four hours later he succumbed to his injuries.

A motive is yet to be determined for his killing. Investigations are continuing.

I hope Martin Joseph and Patrick Manning are keeping count. 9 murders in 4 days! What measures are being taken to stop this scourge? Everyday that passes in T&T means another citizen gets killed. What is this PNM led Government doing to stop the killings?

Martin Joseph: We're not failing

Now wait just one minute. Wasn't this the same guy who was admitting failure just about 2 days ago?

See article:Martin Joseph - WE HAVE FAILED

Now for the 180 degrees turn. "We're not failing".

Source: Trinidad Express
Saturday, January 5th 2008

In an apparent response to widespread criticism of his statement that some of Government's crime-fighting initiatives had failed, National Security Minister Martin Joseph said last night in a statement that the Government was not failing in its efforts to fight crime.

The statement issued by the Ministry of National security was headlined "National Security Ministry Responds to Newspaper Headlines" and was in response to newspaper reports yesterday on Joseph's comments on Thursday that strategies meant to deal with gang related homicides did not work.

At a press conference on Thursday, Joseph outlined measures the government had put in place to deal specifically with gang-related violence and said:

"Clearly it did not work and as a result those measures are being reviewed. And I can assure you that come Monday Government would be in a position to indicate what new measures and what changes are going to be made (to the old measures), to ensure that we do not have a repeat of what occurred in 2007."

Following is the text of the statement issued last night:

"The Minister of National Security wishes to reiterate Government's commitment to the fight against crime. While it is true that the security forces did not make as much progress as was expected in 2007, government has not failed in its efforts to stamp out criminal behaviour.

"With the information available to law enforcement, it has become necessary to change strategies to ensure a reduction in crime and violence in the country.

"No plan how well placed is cast in stone and the law enforcement agencies, which have the responsibility for maintenance of law and order, have been reviewing the situation, and have identified new approaches, which are to be implemented.

"The Minister of National Security will on Monday, outline to the Parliament in detail, the measures that have been agreed upon."

Well all I have to say is that this is just like the PNM. Always making excuses for lack of action and total incompetence. What are we really paying this guy Martin Joseph for? I mean , is tax payers' money going towards paying this incompetent Minister/Senator's $40,000 PLUS salary! He should resign and if he doesn't want to resign, it is time the people find some lawful way of getting rid of him and the incompetent PNM.