Commissioner of Police Allister Guevarro has maintained that the TTPS does not oppose protests organised by citizens.
His statement comes amid recent criticism of police actions to disperse crowds gathered for a peace walk in Port of Spain.
Speaking to the media in Tobago at the launch of the TTPS Active Directed Grid Patrol initiative, Commissioner Guevarro clarified the police’s decision to intervene in the “19 Protests for 19 Bullets” demonstration, which raised concerns about the handling of the Joshua Samaroo shooting case.
“That protest actually had about 15 or 16 protest demonstrations in front of police stations prior. But they were all held within the law, and they were all done in the right way. Thus, when it reached to the point of it becoming a little adversarial and against what the Emergency Powers Regulations dictates, that is when the police have to step in and take decisive action.”
The Police Commissioner also elaborated on the conditions under which citizens can exercise their democratic rights to protest.
“As it was bandied about into the public, you don’t really need permission to protest, what you do, you notify the office of the Commissioner of Police. In some cases, some people have a sporadic protest, but there are means and ways in which you protest that could be offensive to the law and that is what we are trying to prevent.”
