Letters to the Editor
Newsday
THE EDITOR: I read with interest a newspaper article which noted that more “operational results” were delivered by police during the December 30, 2024-April 13, 2025 state of emergency (SoE) and argued that “the first SoE appeared to deliver better results.”
However, the article conveniently left out one of the most important indicators – the murder rate.
In the last SoE, under the previous PNM government, there were 114 murders. That drop was welcome at the time, of course.
But in the current SoE, there have been only 78 murders, even with a worrying uptick in the last week. At the same point in time during the previous SoE, there were already 91 murders.
That is a remarkable improvement – and something that should be acknowledged.
I am not trying to play politics, but to be fully factual and to be fair. The murder rate is never something to rejoice at, since one murder is always too many. However, we must be fully factual, and not cherry-pick data.
The previous SoE, however, was marred by very troubling developments – criminal, political and institutional.
On its first day, state attorney Randall Hector was assassinated in broad daylight – a shocking and unprecedented act since the murders of Dana Seetahal and Selwyn Richardson. To this day, that murder remains unsolved.
Then, only four days later, on January 3, then prime minister Dr Keith Rowley called a press conference – not to address the national crisis, but to announce his intention to resign later that year. It was an inexplicable announcement to make during an SoE.
The result was national confusion, speculation, and political instability at a time when calm and clarity were most needed.
Even worse, it later emerged that Rowley intended for Stuart Young to replace him without any internal PNM election, or a national election. That triggered chaos within the ruling party, the government, and the wider society.
Young was indeed named as successor to Rowley for prime minister, but Rowley did not resign as political leader of the PNM, and neither did he announce when he would resign as prime minister.
This put the country into further confusion.
As if that political upheaval was not enough, on January 30 the then commissioner of police, Erla Harewood-Christopher, was arrested at her office and confined at the St Clair Police Station – sending shock waves through the country.
She was suspended by the Police Service Commission the next day, without a shred of evidence, according to her attorney. Indeed, she was released without charge on February 1.
After almost two months of unnecessary speculation and confusion, on February 26 Rowley finally announced that he would resign as prime minister on March 16.
On March 17 new PM Young dissolved Parliament and announced the election for April 28.
All this happened while an SoE was in effect – an extraordinary period of political and institutional turmoil, where both the police and the government seemed to be at war with themselves.
By contrast, the current SoE has been far more stable, focused, and effective. The figures show that clearly.
In addition to murder, DCP Benjamin informed the country on September 11 that violent crimes were down 22 per cent compared to the same period last year, from 3,221 in 2024 to 2,512 in 2025; serious reported crimes decreased by 15 per cent, surpassing their original target of ten per cent; larceny of vehicles dropped by 34 per cent, well above their reduction target of 20 per cent.
Crime is down, violence is being tackled at its roots, and the institutions of state are functioning as they should – without the political confusion and chaos that characterised the PNM’s final months.
The PNM’s SoE was strange from start to finish – a mix of heavy-handedness, instability, and political theatre. Two weeks after it ended, the PNM was voted out of office in a historic loss.
The PNM’s political mismanagement of its SoE may very well have paved the way for the landslide UNC victory.
DANIEL THOMAS
Las Cuevas