Trinidad and Tobago declares state of emergency amid deadly gang violence
Trinidad and Tobago declared a state of emergency on Monday, granting police the power to conduct warrantless searches and arrests for two days, following a surge in violent crime that has left 623 people dead this year.
Trinidad and Tobago on Monday declared a state of emergency due to a spike in murders by criminal groups, a move which grants police the ability to conduct searches and arrests without a warrant over the next two days.
"The circumstances warranting the declaration of the public emergency are based on the advice of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service to the National Security Council of heightened criminal activity which endangers the public safety," Prime Minister Keith Rowley's office said in a statement.
Attorney General Stuart Young said the country recorded 61 murders in December, bringing the year's total up to 623 homicides, an increase from 577 homicides recorded in 2023 and 599 in 2022.
Young, speaking at a press conference in the capital Port of Spain, said the public emergency would not include a curfew or restrict people's movements, to minimize the economic impact of the declaration.
The authorization for police to carry out searches and arrests without a warrant may be extended up to seven days by a judge, Young said.
Recent incidents of violence included a man shot and killed after leaving a police station in Port of Spain on Saturday, and a shooting in Laventille, Trinidad, on Sunday that killed five.
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