Former Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith has hit back at current Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro, defending his record and challenging Guevarro to match his achievements.
Griffith highlighted his accomplishments during his tenure, including the creation of the Emergency Response Patrol, Special Operations Response Team, Gender-Based Violence Unit, and a host of crime-reduction initiatives that lowered serious crime by 30 percent in 2020.
“What I did was much more than just reduce crime externally. I cleaned up the corruption and bad practices in the TTPS, from eliminating over $100 million annually in overtime corruption, something which has re commenced on my departure,” Mr Griffith said.
“I put an end to police officers using police vehicles to escort criminal elements, but by removing the GPS tracking on all vehicles, this has recommenced. I formed a Gender Based Violence Unit to deal with abuse of women, children and elderly,” he added.
Mr Griffith also pointed to reforms like reducing overtime corruption by over $70 million, implementing body cameras, GPS-tracked vehicles, and expanding recruit intake at the Police Academy.
Griffith insists leadership and performance matter more than being a career police officer and has called on Guevarro to publicly outline what he has achieved in his first year at the helm.
