Trinidad and Tobago has extended a state of emergency to counter record homicides. But the measure, a standard strategy for governments facing down rising crime levels elsewhere in the region, is unlikely to curb the escalating trend of violence.
Authorities in the Caribbean nation extended the state of emergency on January 13, after initially announcing the emergency decree on December 30. This action follows a year when homicides hit 614, marking 2024 as the deadliest year in the country’s history.
The decision to declare the state of emergency was based on intelligence from Trinidad & Tobago Police Service (TTPS), according to the state-owned television channel, Trinidad and Tobago Television. Despite the measure, there have been additional murders, including a pair of double homicides, local media reported.
SEE ALSO: Prediction: Rising Homicides in Trinidad & Tobago Amid Gang Violence
“Criminal gangs, via the use of high-powered assault weapons and other illegal firearms, in areas of Trinidad, and possibly Tobago, are likely to immediately increase their brazen acts of violence in reprisal killings on a scale so extensive that it threatens persons and will endanger public safety,” said Stuart Young, the acting attorney general, who is set to replace Prime Minister Keith Rowley in the coming months, when making the announcement.
Under the state of emergency, police have the authority to search individuals and premises without a warrant and detain suspects for up to 48 hours. No curfew has been implemented, as the government aims to make the measure as “unobtrusive” as possible for law-abiding citizens.
Homicides have been steadily climbing for years as approximately 180 small, unsophisticated gangs battle for territorial control of street-level drug dealing and arms trafficking. Murders have increased in four of the last five years, according to data collected by InSight Crime.
InSight Crime Analysis
The state of emergency appears to be a politically expedient measure for a government under fire. While it may deliver a short-lived reduction in homicides, the government appears to have no long-term solution to the country’s increasingly worrying violence.
In 2021, the Trinidad and Tobago intelligence body, the Strategic Services Agency (SSA), cautioned legislators that gangs were likely to grow increasingly violent as they recovered from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and split following the killing of Anthon Boney, leader of the gang known as the Muslims, one of the two largest gangs in the country.
The surge in multiple murders during 2024 suggests that this prediction has played out. Police recorded 33 double homicides, eight triple homicides, four quadruple homicides, and one quintuple homicide during the year.
Rowley recently announced he is stepping aside before his term ends in August.
Chief secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, Farley Augustine, expressed skepticism to the press about the effectiveness of the state of emergency. “We are not very confident that this will result in any meaningful change in direction or change in what will happen [in terms of crime].”
Kevin Morris, the minority leader in the Tobago House of Assembly, emphasized that the state of emergency “must be part of a bigger plan to tackle the deeper issues driving crime,” including arms trafficking into the country, money laundering, and a lack of economic opportunities within the country.
Arms from the United States and nearby Venezuela have flooded into Trinidad and Tobago for years, supplying the weaponry that has fueled the increase in violence. Money laundering also continues to be problematic, with Trinidad and Tobago listed by the European Commission as a high-risk country.
However, Trinidad and Tobago is not the only country in the Caribbean and Latin America to resort to declaring a state of emergency in response to deeply entrenched violence.
For example, over the last few years, Jamaica has repeatedly established and re-established states of emergency in different parishes of the island, yet has seen little progress in eradicating the gang-fueled violence. The island’s escalating issues with extortion and the transit of cocaine to the United States have intensified a deeply embedded gang culture, presenting a significant challenge for law enforcement.
Similarly, Ecuador and Honduras have maintained states of emergency for 12 and 25 months, respectively. During that time, Ecuador has experienced a surge in homicides as gangs have atomized and broken into smaller, deadlier gangs which turn against each other, leaving authorities overwhelmed. In Honduras, the problem of extortion – the primary justification for the state of exception – has not only increased but also “mutated,” one urban transport leader told InSight Crime, as the vacuum left by larger criminal outfits, including the MS13 that pulled away, has been filled by smaller gangs.
While such measures have limited effectiveness, they often resonate with citizens, who see the announcements as decisive action by authorities. This perception benefits the government of Keith Rowley, who has faced backlash for his inability to curb killings despite intelligence warnings about a tide of violence years ago.
Featured Image: Acting Attorney General Stuart Young (L) and Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds (R) announce the state of emergency. Source: Al Jazeera.