Trinidad President Christine Carla Kangaloo declared a state of emergency, the government announced Monday morning.
The twin-island nation is grappling with a crisis of violent crime, marked by an increase in homicides. Energy Minister Stuart Young said on December 30 that the homicide toll for the nation of just 1.5 million people was 623. The toll breaks the 2022 record of 605. The country is facing an increase in gang violence.
“The circumstances warranting the declaration of emergency are based on the advice of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service to the National security Council of heightened criminal activity which endangers the public safety,” the government stated.
The state of emergency, activated pursuant to section 8(2)(c) of the Trinidad Constitution, means the President is satisfied “that action has been taken, or is immediately threatened, by any person, of such nature and on so extensive a scale, as to be likely to endanger the public safety or to deprive the community or any substantial portion of the community of supplies or services essential to life.”
The state of emergency bestows the State with increased powers, including for detention. Young said the period will not include a curfew, and that the state of emergency will specifically target criminal elements and “the brazen use of illegal firearms.”
Government is expected to communicate the regulations shortly.
