Commission asks for report on killing of woman in police station

The Police Service Commission of Trinidad and Tobago has ordered acting Police Commissioner James Philbert to provide a report on the killing of a woman earlier this week on the compound of a police station.

Camille Daniel, 39, was shot and killed when she drove her hijacked car into the compound of the West End Police Station on Wednesday.

Read the story: Murder in police station yard

A news release said, "The Commission deplores in the strongest possible terms, the increasing violence in the country and expresses its abhorrence at the recent acts of criminality.

"Pursuant to its role of monitoring the efficiency and effectiveness of discharge of the functions of the Commissioner of Police as conferred by the Constitution, the commission has directed the acting Commissioner of Police to provide a special report on the measures which he intends to put in place to arrest the deteriorating situation in the interest and safety of the citizens of the nation.”

In his first official response to the murder Philbert said he is satisfied that officers at the station "responded in a timely manner" after Daniel was shot dead.

“I am satisfied based on what took place...that the police acted as best as they could. I think they did what they had to do, considering what took place in that short space of time,” Philbert told reporters.

He assured citizens that police stations are safe and said the police are not about to surrender to criminals. “We are not throwing up our hands in the air at all. The police will continue to do what is necessary to remove criminals from our midst, the streets and wherever they are,” Philbert said.

“We are going to have to weed them out, and we will!" he promised.” And he called on citizens to be patient.

In his reaction to the brutal killing that pushed the years homicide total to 270, opposition leader Basdeo Panday said the murder sends a very strong signal from the criminal element that they have no fear for the law enforcement and judicial systems in Trinidad and Tobago.

In a media statement Panday said the protective agencies must use every lawful measure and the full resources of the State to snuff out criminal activity. He added, "Failure to promptly gain control of the situation will result in the country plummeting into a state of anarchy."

He accused the government of refusing to effectively deal with the crime problem while trying to fix the problems of other nations and urged citizens to do something about it.

"If we continue to be uninterested or unwilling to stand up against the government we will have no choice but to accept the society we allow them to create for us," he said.

"As this social crisis deepens I urge citizens to gather among yourselves in your communities and discuss the ways you can deliver the message of your discontent and frustration to the government...Tell the government loud and clear that if they continue to violate the social contract, that they will not be able to rest and that they will have to run."

The former prime minister said, "The power, Brothers and Sisters, is in your hands. Use it before it is too late."