TRINIDAD-Government and opposition trade words over the effectiveness of the state of emergency.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC -The Trinidad and Tobago government Wednesday night defended its decision to seek a three-month extension of the existing state of emergency (SoE), saying that it will not be deterred in its drive against gang-related crime and gang-related activity in the country.

“We declared a second state of emergency in March of this year, this time due to rampant gang violence resulting in multiple homicides and mass shootings across the country,” Attorney General John Jeremie said, as he tabled the motion seeking the extension of the SoE that would have ended on June 17.

“This is a government and a Prime Minister that takes swift, decisive action, and our position is that we will not allow the criminal gangs to run amok in this country. They will not be permitted to operate as if they are above the law. They will not be permitted to brazenly commit the kinds of horrific acts we witnessed in the early months of the year 2025,” he told legislators.

But the leader of the Opposition Business and former national security minister, Marvin Gonzales, dismissed Jeremie’s arguments, saying that the government was intent on governing under an SoE because it had lost the support of the majority of the population.

“Government is running from the people who elected them. Hiding from the people after one year,” Gonzales said, noting that the authorities had implemented draconian measures alongside the SoE, including a ban on public demonstrations at several state buildings, including the Parliament and the official residence of the prime minister.

“Given the fact that this state of emergency is ineffective, it has not brought about the solutions, it has not brought about any curtailment of crime and criminality in trying to build gang warfare and all of these serious matters, Mr. Speaker, what we have seen and exactly what we warned about from the onset with respect to these regulations that are very intrusive insofar as it relates to our constitutional rights,” Gonzales said.

“The citizens of this country are saying that this government intends to keep in place a rolling state of emergency not to contain crime, not to deal with gang leaders, not to deal with the problems within the prison, but it appears based on the utterances of leading members of the government that the government is now hiding from the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago,” he added.

As he piloted the motion to extend the SoE, Jeremie linked the main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) with criminal gangs while in office, adding that “history will show in time when it is written that we made significant headway in disrupting the activities of the gangs and curbing gang-related activity, both of which were responsible for the very real threat to public order and to the citizens of this state”.

Jeremie said that the Kamla Persad-Bissessar government will never forget the atrocities that led to the “horrific assassination of state prosecutor Randall Hector” and that of another prominent special prosecutor, Dana Seetahal.

“We are determined to ensure that they do not occur under our watch. It is an indisputable fact that as a result of actions taken by the state, including the timely declarations of states of emergency, targeted action taken by law enforcement, and our intelligence services, along with various other effective measures that make up our crime strategy, serious crime across Trinidad and Tobago has plummeted.”

He said last year saw the lowest murder rate in 20 years, and as the country approaches the mid-year, “we are just below last year’s figures.

“The country is experiencing the two lowest murder rates in two decades. Serious crime has declined drastically for the period January 1 to 2026 and January 1, 2026 to May 25, 2026, compared to the same period last year.

“Nine out of 10 divisions should reduce serious crime, with national SRC serious crime down 20 percent…To date, and the figures move around, homicides have fallen by four per cent compared to the same period last year, which was itself the lowest in 20 years.”

Jeremie said that gang activity has been significantly curbed. Gang structures and organizations are being disrupted, even as he recognizes “that in many cases, younger, less experienced youth are assuming control of criminal entities.

“The law enforcement agencies expect that. They have planned, and the government has resourced their plans. While we are not there yet in terms of our existential battle against crime, this country is significantly safer today when compared to the horrible years of PNM rule.”

Jeremie said that he had received a report detailing analysis conducted by the Strategic Analytics and Intelligence Department of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) which evaluated the three states of emergency implemented between 2024, December and June 2026.

He said the key findings of the TTPS report are that the first SoE under the PNM was the least effective, with the second SoE producing “the strongest murder suppression effect and recorded the lowest average daily murder rate”.

“The report goes on to provide the following data related to the ongoing state of emergency. They say it has produced significant reductions in several major crime categories, as follows: 53 per cent decline in kidnapping, 50 per cent reduction in larceny from dwelling hosts, 30 per cent decline in firearms and ammunition offences, 30 per cent decline in narcotics offences, 29 per cent decline in robberies, 29 per cent decline in shooting and wounding, 40 per cent decline in other serious crime.”

He said murders have also remained below the corresponding period in 2025, “reflecting the continued positive impact of the current state of emergency on national crime”.

But Gonzales told legislators that he had assumed from the start that the Attorney General would have entered the debate with an understanding of the public expectation of him, as he carries the responsibility of the Attorney General in the government of Trinidad and Tobago.

He said he had hoped Jeremie would have used the occasion “to report to the people of Trinidad and Tobago the facts and circumstances and all of the issues relating to this very important matter of the extension of a state of emergency in this country”.

But instead he started his contribution in the most shocking manner, where he quoted the interview of a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, making reference to a segment of the population in this country, and describing the segment of this population in a very uncomplimentary manner,

“… the issue of crime and criminality in this country is a very serious one, and it is one that we have been grappling with for a very long time,” he said, noting that the Attorney General had started his presentation “in a way and in a manner that I will describe as vile, as diabolical, as vicious, a threat to a segment of the population and even threatening them…”

Gonzales said that several people have been detained under the existing SoE, noting that the SoE “had nothing to do with crime and criminality in Trinidad and Tobago because the President’s proclamation and the statement laid in this Parliament pointed to a specific threat.

“Mr. Speaker, we have asked time and time again, what is the status of the investigation into this matter? ” And we cannot be told,” Gonzales said, adding that he had asked the Minister of Homeland Security, Roger Alexander, in Parliament “not too long ago… what is the status of the investigation?”

“How many persons have been arrested under the Anti-Gang Act? You know what the Minister of Homeland Security did: he invoked the Standing Orders of the Parliament to avoid responding to a very simple question: how many persons have been arrested and charged under the Anti-Gang Act in relation to this matter?

“And we ask the question again in this Parliament, the opposition asking this very important question on behalf of the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago: what is the status of this investigation? Who has been charged? Who has been placed before the courts?

“Because if after being under state of emergency for almost 300 days you cannot bring those persons to justice, Mr. Speaker, then God forbid what is happening in Trinidad and Tobago is that this Government plans to rule and to govern this country under a permanent state of emergency, because they have absolutely no answer and no crime plan and nothing to deal with the root causes of crime in this country.”

The debate is continuing, but the government is expected to pass the legislation given its 28-13 majority in the Parliament.