Former Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith has called for increased personal accountability within the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.
In a social media post on Thursday, Mr Griffith argued that officers must face personal consequences for actions rooted in negligence, incompetence, or malice.
“As Minister of National Security and later as Commissioner of Police, I personally witnessed numerous instances where officers acted outside the law or abused their authority, resulting in the State paying damages while those officers walked away without consequence,” Griffith stated.
Griffith differentiated between “honest mistakes” and “wilful misconduct” saying that officers should be held financially and professionally responsible for actions falling outside operational necessity.
He added that officers should not be held personally liable for unintended damages occurring during lawful duties, such as hot pursuits or armed conflicts.
“Policing involves risk, uncertainty, and split-second decisions, and officers must never be made to hesitate or second-guess themselves when acting lawfully to protect life. What we are speaking about are situations that fall completely outside those parameters,” said Griffith.
To bridge the accountability gap, Griffith advocated that officers be made to pay for damages caused by gross negligence and there should be mandatory body camera use.
He said accountability does not weaken the Police Service, but rather protects the reputation of the “overwhelming majority” or hardworking officers from the “bad apples” who undermine public trust.
“This is not about penalizing officers for honest mistakes made in the line of duty. It is about ensuring that reckless, unlawful, or malicious actions do not continue without consequence, and that the public is not forced to repeatedly pay for conduct that has no legal or moral justification,” Griffith said.
