Over 5,700 arrested during Trinidad and Tobago state of emergency
Key Points(5)
- The Trinidad and Tobago government says its six-month state of emergency has produced the desired results, pointing to more than 5,700 arrests, hundreds of firearms seized and a 14% decline in serious crimes as the measure prepares to expire next week.
- Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander told Parliament on Friday that the state of emergency, which took effect on March 3 and was extended twice, will expire on Sept.
- 17 because of legal requirements and not because the security threat has ended.
- “Let me make something absolutely clear from the outset.
- The state of emergency is ending because the law say that it must.
The Trinidad and Tobago government says its six-month state of emergency has produced the desired results, pointing to more than 5,700 arrests, hundreds of firearms seized and a 14% decline in serious crimes as the measure prepares to expire next week.
Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander told Parliament on Friday that the state of emergency, which took effect on March 3 and was extended twice, will expire on Sept. 17 because of legal requirements and not because the security threat has ended.
“Let me make something absolutely clear from the outset. The state of emergency is ending because the law say that it must. It is not ending because the threat has disappeared. It is not ending because the police has finished its job and it is not ending because the criminal gangs have been given reprieve,” Alexander said.
“The emergency powers will end, the fight against crime will continue. There will be no ease up…on the pressure that will be. There will be no retreat, no surrender, no white flags, all red.”
Alexander said the government maintains a zero-tolerance approach to criminal activity and will continue pursuing people who threaten the safety and security of Trinidad and Tobago.
He said the state of emergency was imposed in response to an escalation in violent crime involving organized gangs, including multiple killings and mass shootings.
“Law enforcement advised that the criminal gangs had escalated in their acts of violence on a scale so extensive that the result in multiple deaths and mass shootings. And that this pattern of behaviour was expected to continue,” Alexander said.
He said the National Security Council, chaired by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, determined that the government had “no choice” but to introduce emergency measures.
“This government acts because responsible governments do not sit by and watch criminals torture citizens. When the security of the nation is threatened, the state must respond. And we must respond decisively and effectively,” Alexander said.
The former senior police officer said the state of emergency was not merely symbolic but served as an operational tool that allowed authorities to coordinate intelligence and sustain action against people and networks accused of driving violent crime.
During the first 191 days of the state of emergency, the protective services conducted 13,108 operations, while the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service arrested 5,767 people, according to Alexander.
A total of 702 preventive detention orders were approved, with 573 executed. Authorities also recovered 318 firearms and 6,414 rounds of ammunition.
As of Thursday, 240 people detained under preventive detention orders had been charged, while investigations involving others were continuing.
“Every round of ammunition seized is one less bullet available for the criminals. Every criminal network disrupted, weakened the machinery of violence that had caused suffering in our community. That is criminal capability being dismantled,” Alexander said.
The minister also pointed to declines in several major crime categories.
Between Jan. 1 and Sept. 10, 6,884 serious crimes were reported, down from 8,014 during the corresponding period in 2025, representing a 14.1% decline.
Murders fell from 438 in 2024 to 262 in 2025 and 252 so far in 2026, while woundings and shootings declined from 542 in 2024 to 402 in 2025 and 313 this year. Robberies fell from 1,723 in 2024 to 1,325 in 2025 and 901 so far this year.
“These are not imagined. These are real statistics provided by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service and they tell us something important. Pressure works, sustained law enforcement works, intelligence led policing works, disrupting gang works, taking guns and ammunition off the street works, pulling officers where they are needed works,” Alexander said.
He cautioned that the government was not attributing all of the reductions to the state of emergency alone but said the figures showed that key crime indicators were moving in the right direction.
Alexander also stressed that the expiration of emergency detention powers would not end ongoing investigations or erase intelligence gathered by police.
“The police will continue to investigate into persons and networks of interest,” he said, adding that cases would be brought before the courts when authorities obtained sufficient admissible evidence.
“The SOE was one weapon in the state arsenal against crime. It was never the entire arsenal. This government has never presented the state of emergency as the only answer to crime. It formed part of a broader sustainable national security strategy,” Alexander said.
He said the wider strategy includes strengthening manpower, improving police mobility and visibility, modernizing legislation and technology, strengthening the country's borders and tackling trafficking and cybercrime, while addressing social and behavioral factors that put young people at risk.
