The number of murders since the declaration of the State of Emergency is a worrying signal, according to a former Police Commissioner.

2024 ended with the killing of attorney Randall Hector in Port of Spain, while the first killing of 2025 came just over an hour into the New Year when Keegan Barbour was shot dead in Laventille.

Former Top Cop Gary Griffith believes, while it is still early into the SoE, it seems roadblocks and warrant-less searches are not stemming the murder average.

He also says, referring to the almost 50 people arrested on the first day of the SoE, that arrests without convictions do not constitute a successful SoE.

He is warning the Police Commissioner to avoid the trap of believing that holding people based on “intelligence” is effective policing.