PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Police Commissioner, Erla Harewood-Christopher, says the Trinidad and Tobago Police Serve (TPS) is “disappointed” that despite all that it has done, the number of murders in the country has surpassed the 600 mark.

Last year, the country recorded 577 murders and with seven days to go before the end of this year, the figure is certain to rise.

Among the latest murders that now stand at 602, is that of Stacy Gopaulsingh, 36, who was stabbed to death at her home in Moruga in central south Trinidad, early on Monday.

The judicial support officer (JSO), who is said to have been three months pregnant, was killed while her common-law husband, 42, grabbed their three-year-old daughter and escaped by jumping out of a window.

The Trinidad South District Court employee’s body with multiple chop wounds in the living room. The laptop she used for work, a brown envelope containing $40,000 TT (One TT dollar= $0.16 cents US) and $800 US and the wedding bands were missing.

“We have done a significantly large amount of good work,” Harewood-Christo her said in a statement, adding that the criminal element in Trinidad and Tobago “persists and continues to create opportunities for violent crimes to be committed.

“They have become more brazen and indiscriminate in their desperate attempts at maintaining their criminal enterprises.”

The top cop said that this will continue to be the challenge “until such time that we succeed in diverting the minds of the criminal elements in our society, especially our young men, from the commission of violent crimes to more productive activities.

“We will do well to recognize that homicides is not just a TTPS issue, but a national issue, and there is therefore a role for every citizen in our endeavour to reduce this statistic. Let’s develop the courage and the confidence to do what is required.”

Harewood-Christopher said the country must become “more deliberate about the type of society we want, and work resolutely, collectively and purposefully to achieve that result.

“We simply cannot continue to condone criminal activities, or allow ourselves to be intimidated by the criminal elements.

“The TTPS will continue to exert itself to the fullest extent to do what is required to deliver effective law enforcement to the deserving citizenry. We give our unwavering commitment in that regard,” Harewood-Christopher said.