PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) has described September as the bloodiest month here so far with 50 murders recorded during that period.

Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams, speaking on a radio programme here, said that while there was no study which could clearly signal the cause and effect relationship surrounding the spike, he is certain that the proliferation of illegal small arms into the country was a major factor.

“Firearms entering this country illegally are impacting this country in a significant way,” Williams said, adding that 82 per cent of all of the murders committed in 2015 have been committed with a firearm.

“So firearms are making a major impact on the violence in Trinidad and Tobago… So we have the murders and then we have shootings and wounding, so firearms are contributing in a significant way,” he told radio listeners.

So far this year, 326 murders have been committed, at least 20 more than the corresponding period last year.

Williams said that the overall situation was also negatively impacting this country, adding, “we have to find a way to fix the problem we are confronted with”.

Williams said he was nonetheless not convinced that a gun amnesty would contribute to the removal of guns from the streets, saying that so far this year, the TTPS has seized 477 guns, 32 more than the corresponding period last year.

“So the amnesty is not the major issue. It is how can we stop the entry because the more you take off and the more that come in, you are not solving the problem and you have the issue of guns being used, 82 per cent as I have said.

“That is why I speak of border protection and that is why I said it is encouraging because inside of the very said new government policy is about border protection, setting up a Border Protection Agency, and for me that shows there is hope.

“If you can focus on border protection and we can stop the flow of the firearms, you can get the guarantee of the Police Service we can take the firearms off the street,” Williams said.

He told listeners that he welcomed the other crime-fighting concepts outlined in the manifesto of the now ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) for the September 7 general election.

“Prior to an election, one of the things you do as a leader, you have to look at what is likely to happen in the context of future governments and manifestos. And we now have a new Government formed through the PNM and their manifesto has actually touched on the things I wanted a government to focus on,” he said.

He cited in particular the concept of a whole-of-government approach which he described as the first starting point in addressing the security of a country. He said this is a matter that he had raised at different fora, but that it had not been taken seriously.

“So whole-of-government approach allows all the resources at the disposal of the State to be brought to bear on what social issue and you can have a far greater effect in addressing crime.”

Williams said that since the police had located hot spots across the country, criminal activities had dropped significantly.

He said when the initiative was introduced in 2013, crime went down by 26.3 per cent during that year, dropping from 17,814 incidents to 13,147.

“That has been the biggest drop ever in the history of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service over any one-year period,” Williams said, adding that the next closest to that would have been during the period of the state of emergency in 2011 in which there was a 21.1 per cent drop.

“But what we saw after the state of emergency is that crime went back up. With hot spot policing we got a 26.3 per cent drop, which is higher than the state of emergency, without locking down the people and they not being able to leave home.

“What we were seeking to do is to see if this was sustainable, to see if this will continue, if the drop will continue, and in 2014 we continued with the effort and we saw crime further drop to 12,057. In 2015, we are using the same continuation of the strategy and we are running at 11 per cent reduction, and if that continues, it will take crime under 11,000,” he told his radio audience.