(Trinidad Express) Of the 199 murders recorded for the year so far, only 25 of those cases have been “solved” as a result of suspects being charged and taken before the courts.
However, there are still a number of investigations pending where there is the possibility of charges being laid once the proper evidence is gathered.
This according to public information officer with the Police Service Sgt Wayne Mystar when questioned about the low detection rate as it relates to homicides.
Mystar, when contacted by phone yesterday, said consideration also needed to be given to those pending investigations.
“When we say ‘solve’ we mean where enough evidence has been gathered so as to implicate somebody leading to them being charged and brought before the court.
“That is notwithstanding that there are some of them (murder investigations) where we have suspects and we have information that may lead to them being charged. We also have to take into consideration that we have several matters pending,” Mystar said.
Mystar said for the corresponding period last year, there had been 192 murders, however, he stated that for this year so far, more individuals have been coming forward with information leading to more arrests and suspects being charged.
Asked if there was an issue with witnesses to homicides coming forward with information, Mystar said this was not so.
“No not really. You have to remember that we have the witness protection programmes put in place, so if someone comes forward with information and there is the possibility of their safety being compromised then we will make sure that they are placed in one of those programmes,” said Mystar.
