Stop relying on witnesses to make convictions, says Joseph

National Security Minister Martin Joseph says
that the time has come for law enforcement to stop depending on
eye-witnesses to secure convictions in criminal cases.

Joseph said this is the rationale behind the Government's plan for
law enforcement officers to use more scientific forms of evidence
including DNA and forensic testing as well the admission of written
hearsay evidence in criminal proceedings.

Joseph made the assertions during a news conference yesterday held
at the National Security Ministry's head office in Port of Spain.

"One of the things that is very, very clear to us, is that our
reliance on witnesses is something for which we have to completely move
away from and we're not unique in that respect," Joseph said.

"In most other jurisdictions, the same thing is taking place as a result of witness intimidation, witness elimination," he said.

In addition, Joseph said that
witness interference is the main cause behind law enforcement's low
detection rate with regard to gang-related homicides, in particular.

Describing the entire homicide rate as unacceptable, Joseph said the
situation has now required him to once again provide Cabinet with
weekly updates. He said he had been providing fortnightly and then
monthly updates as the situation started to improve in mid-2007.

"There is no question about that, we are very much concerned about
it because what we have noticed is coming from the second half of 2007
there's almost a spike in the number of homicides," Joseph said.

The homicide rate for the year now stands at 96. The comparable
figures for 2005, was 74, while in 2006 there were 96 murders and in
2007 there were 58, according to police statistics.

Joseph said that is why the Government has done its best to ensure
that law enforcement is not only aware of what is happening but are
focusing on what steps are being taken to address the situation.

"Over the past three or four months, some key criminal figures were
killed (and) as a result there are number of reprisal killings that we
are seeing taking place," Joseph said.

"I have also been advised that there has been a lot of displacement
of criminals caused by the focused activities by law enforcement
officers in specific areas," he added.

Joseph said that while such criminals are not committing crimes in
the areas they migrate to, "they are being pursued and killed there"
and law enforcement is aware of these new developments and are putting
measures in place to "treat with the question about these unacceptable
levels of homicides."

National Security Minister Martin Joseph says "it
is very possible" criminal gangs identified by the Government as the
source of the nation's escalating homicide rate may be fighting over
State-funded social programmes.

Joseph was speaking at a press conference yesterday at the National
Security Ministry's head office in Port of Spain where he also said
that homicides have been on the rise since September 2007.

Although Joseph did not identify any specific social programme, on
February 22, Justice Anthony Carmona in a judgment in a criminal case,
said that while the Unemployment Employment Relief (URP) does serve a
social purpose, there is rank criminality in its bowels which needs to
be addressed by the authorities.

Critics of the URP, including members of the Opposition, have long claimed it has been infiltrated by criminal elements.

Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert who is the URP's line
minister has however said that the programme is not a criminal
enterprise, even though he acknowledged that some of its participants
have criminal records.

Joseph was asked yesterday if
criminal gangs were not only fighting over physical turf but what
people are describing as contracts in the social services programmes.

"It is possible. It is very possible," Joseph said.

He then continued, "I don't want to sound academic...the key to
effective law enforcement is an appreciation and an understanding of
the environment, what is happening in the environment and the ability
of law enforcement to adjust quickly to the developments that are
taking place in the environment."

Joseph said that there were people who spend their entire lives
"bent on trying to get quick money" or try to "get rich without
working" and in the process distress law abiding citizens.

He said such persons "spend their time looking for new and better
ways" to get rich quick, adding, "Law enforcement has to always be in
step."

Joseph said that while criminal gangs are not new to Trinidad and Tobago, the environment in which they operate is.

"What is new is that, again as part of the development that is
taking place and the ease with which...persons who are bent on criminal
activity can now access their weapons of choice. That is what is new
and it is not just unique to Trinidad and Tobago, it also part of a
Caribbean situation," Joseph said.