National Security Minister Edmund Dillon says there is no spike in the murder rate in this country. He said so in response to a question on the Order Paper from Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar during yesterday’s sitting of Parliament
There have been 17 murders in the country for the year to date, according to reports.
Dillon said investigations into the murders in the past seven days showed they were “drug and gang-related offences.”
He said measures adopted to deal with the incidence of such murders “include intelligence-led operations targetting known drug dealers and gang leaders through cordon and search operations.”
Dillon said one of those operations “resulted in the death of Steven St Louis.” He said the security forces have “also intensified the patrol on coastal areas and are also looking at co-opting the National Operations Centre Special Services Agency to look at intelligence gathering to deal with the drug and gang-related offences.”
Persad-Bissessar then asked Dillon if any of those measures were different from what obtained prior to the recent spike or the same. He replied, “There is not a spike in the murder rate. Measures being adopted are new initiatives in a different and focussed manner (with) concentration of force at the right time and place to ensure the operations are done effectively and efficiently.”