The general election on April 28 is being disrupted, and the T&T Police Service (TTPS) is looking into possible threats.
Junior Benjamin, the acting commissioner of police, made this revelation Wednesday at a press conference held at the Port-of-Spain Police Administration Building. He said that “certain intelligence” that a potential disturbance was being prepared had been sent to the authorities.
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Benjamin refused to provide any information on the shocking allegation, saying, “The intelligence would lead us to believe that things are afoot to disrupt the electoral process, and we are saying to all persons, and this includes all parties as well, we want anyone seeking to disrupt the electoral process. We will take a zero-tolerance approach in dealing with that.”
He noted, “The TTPS is taking a zero tolerance, and I want to make that absolutely clear, a zero tolerance as it relates to persons who have any intention to disrupt the electoral process.”
Benjamin referred to the warnings as a kind of “Riot Act” by the authorities, indicating that they are prepared to handle any eventuality.
He said he hoped the impending election next week would be another one of Trinidad and Tobago’s well-known free and peaceful elections.
However, he emphasized, “We will be taking a zero tolerance to anyone, any group, any person who would seek to disrupt the peace and tranquility of T&T while the election is going on or even anything leading up to the election.”
Benjamin mentioned that the required human resources had already been deployed in the lead-up, concentrating on law enforcement preparations with only a few days left before election day. Furthermore, he said, “We want to ask all the parties to really take some time and ensure that persons who are part and parcel of your contingent, that they stay within the given guidelines.”
Benjamin noted, “Certain things have been brought to our attention, and we are saying, based on the things that have been brought to our attention, that anyone that seeks to break the law as it relates to the elections or anything dealing with the offences under the elections, we are going to deal with that decisively.”
He added, “Because we would really be looking seriously at persons who intend to break the law, and we will be taking a zero tolerance in dealing with that.”
The acting top policeman stated that both mobile and static patrols will be sent to hotspot regions and other places where possible disruptions are expected, with police officers and troops working together both before and on election day.
He assured the public that cops were receiving refresher training on how to defuse tense situations.
Curt Simon, the Gold Commander for the 2025 General Election, reaffirmed the CoP’s position by stating that they were prepared to staff the more than 3,000 polling places that the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) had designated.
The acting Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Operations, listed the following as potential election offenses: selling alcohol between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on April 28; not gathering within 100 meters of a polling station; not using loudspeakers or music trucks during polling hours; not influencing voters to prefer one party over another; abstaining from unlawful voting procedures; and not impersonating an electoral official.
Since emotions are likely to run high when the results are tallied and declared, Simon said that the authorities will be closely monitoring the offices of all political parties at the end of the polls.
Simon reassured that the TTPS’s dedication to combating crime in the nation was firm and unwavering, even in the face of the focus on election preparations.
According to Air Vice Marshal Darryl Daniel, Chief of Defense Staff, soldiers are still supporting the TTPS, just as they did when the recently ended State of Emergency was declared.
