Seventy police officers raid club; no arrests

It took 70 police officers to produce the above items in a raid on a Couva nightclub. With 150 patrons searched, there were no arrests.

ARIPERO KILLING

Police were more successful in ending the ‘careers’ of two robbers-cum killers in Aripero, after a robbery. Two unarmed men chased after the bandits, resulting in one chaser—unsurprisingly—being shot and killed.

Had the owner of the grill shop been armed, he could have saved his employee’s life.

Public hospitals now unsecure

Image: Oleg Volk

In the past few days, patients have been attacked at two public hospitals, with doctors, patients and nurses having to scamper for their lives. Hospital security was no help.

In one incident at the Sangre Grande Hospital, a man was stabbed by a gang who entered the hospital unchallenged by security. Eleven security officers were on duty at the time.

In another incident, three young women (including two teens) stabbed a woman while she was awaiting medical care at the Port of Spain General Hospital. The three assailants were arrested and charged with attempted murder and placed on $5,000 bail each.

It seems we now have to defend ourselves and family members at the nations public health institutions, since the assigned security officers are unwilling, or unable. Expect a knee-jerk response from the health ministry (or the RHAs) disarming law-abiding visitors and patients, while leaving the armed criminals untouched.

CHOGM 2009 and Gun Control

The 60^th Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting begins tomorrow and delegates have been streaming into the country over the past few days.

Two countries, Fiji and Malawi will not be represented. Fiji, because of their democracy problems, and Malawi, ostensibly because they cannot afford the travel. It has been reported that France and USA--two non-Commonwealth nations—will be gate-crashing the party to lobby on environmental (read climate change) issues. Perhaps a few Commonwealth nations may consider attending the next G8 and G20 to raise pressing issues of their own.

It is interesting to see how the various security details operate. Some are high profile but professional, others are low profile and professional, while others can be quite casual. The range of weapons and ammunition is astounding though, as can be expected when heads of state of over 50 countries congregate.

AirgunsTT welcomes all heads of state, their attendant security details and entourages to Trinidad and Tobago. We urge you to use this 50^th meeting to re-think the old British policy of keeping our respective citizens unarmed. After all, if the USA had not rebelled against this dastardly policy in the 1770s we would never have witnessed what wealth, splendour and magnificence awaits a nation who decides to throw off its parasitic colonial masters and live according to its own rules. The mere presence of the USA today is a living testimony to what a nation can achieve on its own terms.

Jews For the Preservation of Firearms Ownership has compiled compelling statistics that link a disarmed population with potential genocide.

In the DVD “Innocents Betrayed”, JPFO states that “…170,000,000 civilians that have been murdered by their own governments in the 20th century alone. 170,000,000 men, women, and children who were defenseless to protect themselves. 170,000,000 victims of gun control.”

Jews have learned from their--and others—history. Shouldn’t we all?

More and more foreigners are traversing our soil— armed—while 95% of Trinidadians and Tobagonians applicants are denied firearms licenses.

We’ll shoot airguns for now… Hone the skills. Stay legal.

"The world is filled with violence. Because criminals carry guns, we decent law-abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will lose." - James Earl Jones

Should police be trusted with guns?

Asst Supt of Police Junior Copeland charged with murder.

One police officer is caught while renting out his service pistol। Another shoots himself in the toe while on patrol in our busy capital city. The toe-shooter is no ordinary officer, but a jack-booted ninja of the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF). Any member of the public could easily have been a victim of this officer, who either doesn’t know, or ignores the
Four Universal Gun Safety Rules.

Many times I (and other airgunners) have witnessed police officers muzzle-sweeping civilians, while on patrol. This is a dangerous practice, as PC Nathaniel has shown. The consequences can be fatal.

Our legislators and successive Police Commissioners don’t seem to trust us -- the very citizens that put them in office -- with gun ownership. I cannot remember the last time I heard of a legal gun owner shooting him/herself, or shooting another person in a fit of rage. A police sergeant (Warner-Paul) is in custody for the shooting death of Pastor Brian Pierre last year, in what has been reported as a love triangle gone sour. Another officer -– an Assistant Superintendent -- shot a woman in her chest, and then her son, over a land encroachment issue.

Let’s not forget police officers Wendell Constantine and Garvin Peterson, charged (in separate incidents) with stealing guns and ammo from their respective stations.

Should we trust police officers with guns, due to these and other incidents of betraying the public trust? Our police service has about 7,000 police officers and a dozen cases of gun crimes -- and those are just the ones brought before the court. We have a national population of around 1,300,000. One cannot get the figures for legal civilian gun ownership, but based on those figures alone (7,000 vs 1,300,000), it seems we have a disproportionate number of gun crimes committed by those entrusted with protecting and serving our interest.

I wish PC Nathaniel a speedy recovery and hope, on his return from injury leave, that he is sent for retraining then transferred to a desk job, where he won’t need to be armed and therefore is of no further danger to the public.

This event begs a question: How much range time do these elite units get? How many rounds downrange per month? Per annum? How many rounds on target?

Perhaps some of the more experienced shooters among us may care to volunteer to help teach gun safety and shooting drills to our police officers. It couldn’t hurt, and may help engender the trust between the public and police that our Acting Police Commissioner is always asking for. Over to you Commissioner Philbert.

Scenario planning: What if T&T has another emergency like 1990?

What if T&T has another major emergency? Would you be prepared? Would you feel comfortable that the protective services can, or will? Any major emergency event can happen: T&T experiences a severe hurricane, great earthquake, an invasion from a neighbouring country, terrorists disrupting energy supplies or even another coup. Should the emergency occur over an extended period, can you feed, protect and shelter you family?

Within the first three or four days, the police will go around to the homes of those listed in the firearms register. They will confiscate all firearms and there isn’t a thing you can do about it (read sec 22[1] of the Firearms Act). No pleading, no reasoning, no calls to your superstar constitutional attorney can prevent it. You will be stripped of your legal means of protecting yourself and loved ones, right at the very moment that you need to the most.

The criminals and their families must eat and drink, so the looting begins. After HiLo, TruValu and the other major groceries have been stripped bare, then the smaller groceries and mini marts will also be attacked. Next, unless order is restored, the little neighbourhood shops and parlours will experience the same treatment. Finally, home invasions will be so rampant, that the protective services-being stretched so thin-may not respond.

Armed gangs will terrorise entire communities, picking off the weak, unprepared and unarmed at will. Home invasions, murders, rapes, kidnappings, auto theft, praedial larceny and illegal forcible evictions will be the order of the day.

We are told that one prepares for war in the time of peace. We missed that boat, the war is already on.

Scenario planning is a strategic planning method used by military intelligence and other organisations for flexible long-term plans. Neighbourhood watch groups, families, businesses and NGOs can adapt the methods to their particular environment. It is one way to build community resilience.

Get together with other stakeholders and develop your emergency plan now. Remember, a plan is not a plan, unless it is written down and can be shown to someone else. Otherwise it is still only an idea.

In ‘the fog of war’, ideas may be easily forgotten, and people revert to training and conditioning. Without plans, bad decisions are made, with sometimes fatal repercussions. Develop your plans today. Test them. Do an emergency drill. See what works, what doesn’t. Make your changes and test again. Refine your plan until it is good enough for your survival, and ensure all stakeholders internalize it, or at least have a copy.

Trust in God. But have recourse to lethal force.

Have a plan to survive. Prep your beans, bullets, band-aids and training.

Situational Awareness, Self preservation

Stacked gun safe

Citizens of this beautiful country have now become attuned to the facts of life called robberies and kidnappings. One need not be rich to become a victim. For example, the Sookoo family, although simple crop farmers, living in a wooden house, were attacked Tuesday night while returning home from church service at their Kingdom Hall in Cumana (they are Jehovah’s Witnesses).

Three gunmen, also armed with cutlasses (machetes) tortured the parents and their nine-year-old son, demanding money and a bank ATM card. After receiving the money, they still kidnapped the 30-year-old woman, threatening to kill her.

Situational Awareness is defined as “the perception of environmental elements within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in the near future.”
In other words, “what you need to know not to be surprised.”

Staying constantly and consistently aware of your surroundings, and the changes that occur within it, is vital to survival. Self defense experts always remind us that entering and exiting (homes, vehicles, buildings) are the most likely locations for attacks. For this reason, one should be extra vigilant at these potentially vulnerable points.

We know from experience that we cannot depend on the police service to protect us. Their resources are usually inadequate (“…no vehicles at this time ma’am…”, “…vehicles out on enquiries…”). Most times the officers react too slowly to stop a crime-in-progress.
Therefore the duty to protect ourselves, and loved ones, falls to us.

The USA has Castle Doctrine laws that permits a citizen to use force-even lethal force-to protect human life and property from an intruder. Isn’t it time those sworn to uphold (and create) our laws strike from our legal books, those unjust laws that were created by our former colonial masters, that makes us automatic suspects or criminals when we defend ourselves? Doesn’t the realities of our present crime situation dictate that we revise our laws?

The police cannot, or will not protect us.

Get prepared now, or risk death.

Madagascar: When the population is unarmed

Soldiers storming the presidential palace

The above images are from Madagascar. It is instructive, insofar as it shows what can happen to a country when the citizens are unarmed. The military has arrested the legally elected prime Minister, his wife and bodyguards. The deposed President, Marc Ravalomanana, is now in exile, in Swaziland. The presidency has been handed over to Andry Rajoelina by the military. Other than France, no country recognizes the ‘new’ President, nor his transitional government.

Think it couldn’t happen here in sweet T&T? Think again. Remember 1970 and 1990.

Read more here, here and here.

Daylight rape in San Fernando cemetery

Photos: Oleg Volk

A woman was raped in a San Fernando cemetery, at 2 in the afternoon, even though CCTV cameras were recently installed there. The Express has the story:


Police said the Princes Town woman was seated on a tombstone next to a male relative around 2 p.m. on Sunday when a man walked up to them with a cutlass. The relative ran through some bushes and escaped. The woman was thrown on the ground by the man, who placed the cutlass to her throat and forced her to have sexual intercourse. He then calmly climbed over a broken fence and walked away. The woman made her way to the San Fernando Police Station, where her relative was reporting the incident. She was treated at the San Fernando General Hospital. Paradise Cemetery was among several places in San Fernando outfitted with close circuit cameras.

The police, instead of promptly jumping into a vehicle and getting to the scene of the crime-in-progress, waste time by having this man lodge a report. The woman was raped, and had enough time to walk to the police station (with report still being taken). This is more proof that police do not prevent crime. They investigate, after the act.

Citizens, we have a duty to protect ourselves and loved ones. Do not depend on the police for your security of person or property. You may lose both.

More emboldened criminals

Photo: Trinidad Guardian

Criminals, masked and geared up in police tactical uniforms strolled into factory at an industrial estate in Diego Martin and fired, reloaded and continued firing on employees, killing three.
The young males killed are aged 15, 19 and 24. The factory is owned by the husband of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“No-one took them seriously until they began to open fire.”
“Unopposed, the gunmen continued through the factory, taking out their next target during which the other two men were injured. They re-loaded and continued.”

This blog is not about crime, yet crime, criminals, victims and police ineptitude seem to be on the front burner too often. When are our policymakers and legislators going to stop the partisan bickering and upmanship long enough to make real changes that would positively and sustainably affect the quality of life of our citizens?

If any of those factory employees were legally armed, then those cold-blooded murderers could not have acted with such impunity in executing those young men.

Time to arm the population.

Another Citizen Defends Self

Another citizen has defended himself against an armed criminal. This time the robber was shot to death with his own gun, in the Snake Valley area of Laventille.


PREPPING

A friend who works in the health care sector brought me some ibruprofen, eye drops and antacid. I was very grateful and immediately stashed them away. Got a new thermometer too. Cleaned out the closet set aside for emergency supplies, and rearranged everything. It’s now a little easier to access preps for rotation.

It is a dangerous idea to put your family’s survival at risk by assuming you can eat someone else’s food in an emergency. The only food you can count on is what you have stored away. During emergencies, most people are reluctant to share the little they have. Don’t count on charity.


HUNTING SEASON CLOSES

The hunting season closes today. Chap 67:01 Conservation of Wildlife Act. Congratulations to all successful hunters during this past season, hoping you had fun. Poachers will, of course, ignore this friendly reminder. Don’t forget to turn in your mandatory forms to the Wildlife Division. Failure to do so can result in a fine of $200 or you can find yourself in front of a Magistrate.

Soldiers abducting civilian minors?

“With both hands tied behind their backs, two friends were shot dead and their bodies dumped in a citrus plantation, miles away from their homes.

They were snatched while walking along Coffee Street, San Fernando, on Saturday night and bundled into a seven-seater van. An hour before, three teenagers had also been abducted by men reportedly wearing soldier uniforms, beaten and dropped off at various locations, police said.”

The three teens were all 17 years old. Legally, they are all minors. They were beaten, and dropped off at various locations. Reportedly by soldiers in uniform!

Now one must not believe everything reported in a newspaper, but there were witnesses, this time. Our soldiers, whose purpose is “…to provide a safe and secure environment for the well being of all citizens…” Hmmmmm.

Will we become like Argentina, during their ‘dirty war’, with civilians that ‘disappeared’, courtesy the military?

So now the citizenry must not just protect ourselves against rampaging murderous criminals and police ‘stray’ bullets, but also our own soldiers too! Incredible. In 2006, TT Defence Force soldiers were charged with kidnapping and murder. Time for the population to be armed, in an orderly manner, with the appropriate training and safeguards. If the bulk of the law-abiding population is armed (or at least assumed to be) then day-to-day interaction with those charged with our safety, security and wellbeing will be more pleasant, polite and–at the very least–professional.

We should not continue to beg to be treated right. We must create the environment to ensure that it happens. Deal with others exactly as they are, not how we would like them to be. So if rogue police officers and soldiers act like criminals, then we must treat them as such. And by ‘we’, I mean the citizenry. Don’t expect their colleagues to do for us, what we must do for ourselves.

Civil unrest in Madagascar

Police in Madagascar today fired on unarmed, peaceful protestors, killing at least 25 and injuring over 80. The world’s fourth largest island has experienced looting, arson, widespread protests in the last two weeks. Over 90% of the 10,000 recorded flora and fauna, are found nowhere else in the world. The country, with a population of over 20 million has a history of coups and counter coups. At first glance the situation appears quite complicated. See story here, and here.

Andrydago, a blogger and lawyer, posts about dramatic inflation that accompanies the unrest. All the prices of goods are increasing. “This is the case especially for rice, sugar, yoghurt, milk, butter, oil and gas.”