Gary Griffith, the former police commissioner and one-time minister of national security in Trinidad and Tobago, has labelled Prime Minister Keith Rowley “a man totally out of control” and promised the nation he would bring an end to “his reign of terror and destruction”.

Griffith’s comments came in a Facebook post this morning (March 27) in which he scoffed at the content of a newspaper article in which Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds dismissed opposition claims that there had been an upsurge in crime in the twin-island republic.

“Fitzgerald Hinds is either deliberately misleading the nation, or he can’t count,” Griffith said.

“Having worked with both Stuart Young and Fitzgerald Hinds I can safely say there is no comparison. In fact, for all my years working with governance officials, Hinds is at the bottom of the barrel.

“So it came as no surprise to me when I read an article, that Hinds is asserting that there hasn’t been a surge in crime. And in a move reminiscent of Rowley’s not closing down Petrotrin, Hinds then goes on to tell the population don’t believe their lying eyes but instead focus on his manipulated statistics.”

According to Griffith, during his tenure as police commissioner, when Young was national security minister, they saw the year with the highest reduction in crime as there was an across-the-board 35 per cent fall in 2020.

During that year, however, the COVID-19 pandemic was at full throttle, which would have likely impacted the rates of crime in Trinidad as in several other Caribbean islands which faced lockdowns and limited activity on the streets.

Griffith, though, also stressed that that year saw the highest reduction in murders in Trinidad history.

“Additionally, for the whole of 2021, up until me and my team were no longer there, Trinidad and Tobago was on course for a further reduction in crime of 360 per annum,” he said.

“Since I became a ‘disappointment’ for Rowley and Hinds ‘advised’ McDonald Jacob to get rid of the 19 contracted persons attached to the TTPS [Trinidad and Tobago Police Service], November 2021 became our deadliest month ever, with 77 murders, and tragically we are now on course for over 600 murders per annum.

“In my last 9 months as Commissioner of Police, Jan – Sept 2021, we had 282 murders at an average of 31 per month, and a ratio of 360 per annum. However since my departure, and while Hinds remains as Minister of National Security, from Oct 2021 to Feb 2022, in 5 months, we’ve had 250 murders at an average of 50 per month, and a ratio of 600 per annum, which is the highest surge in our nation’s history.

“So whether we use the 77 in November 2021, to define a surge in crime which is a powerful increase; or we use the trend of 600 murders per annum, there can be no doubt to any right thinking citizen that we are experiencing a surge in crime.

“But beyond the statistics and the transparent attempt at staging for Hinds to boast of his achievements, citizens are not fooled, because they know that the man who said he saw a piper in the face of a man reaching out for help, and who also said he wasn’t responsible for the safety and security of citizens in TNT, does not for one second care about the truth; which is that citizens KNOW in their heart that they do not feel safe and secure, and that having fallen to fourth, crime, and their safety and security is now back to the number one issue on people’s minds.”

Griffith said, despite the crime statistics, he had not been surprised when Rowley kept Hinds on in the post of national security minister after a recent Cabinet reshuffle.

“Having seen Rowley’s ability to ignore truth in preference to holding on to a petty personal grudge, I know, just like Hinds, he also cares nothing for the safety and security of citizens of our nation,” Griffith said.

“No doubt this may have contributed to PNM [governing People’s National Movement] Toco/Sangre Grande Constituency Executive John Mason’s call for Rowley to resign as political leader. A call that has gotten him into hot water with the PNM’s disciplinary committee, but it is a sentiment held by many persons in the PNM; even senior members of the executive and the party itself. But sadly, most are paralysed by the fear that Rowley will bully and victimise them, and as citizens have clearly seen for themselves, that is the Rowley way.

“A man totally out of control, who many say shows dictatorial leanings, Rowley’s reign of terror and destruction must be democratically ended, which is why as I continue to meet with and assemble the best and brightest to undertake that task, I want to urge citizens to hold on, because a major transformation is coming.”

Griffith had just days earlier indicated his ambitions to become prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago after scoffing at criteria established by the new Police Service Commission requiring that only career police officers be considered for the post of police commissioner.

“If this was done to satisfy the political will of Keith Rowley and Fitzgerald Hinds, which as everyone knows is to prevent me from reapplying for the post, let me say that these efforts were not warranted, since I’ve long moved on and I’m now fully focused on the office Keith Rowley now holds,” Griffith said in a Facebook post on Friday.

Griffith served a term in office as police commissioner from August 18, 2018 to August 17, 2021.

Under the previous government, led by a coalition including the party currently in Opposition, he had been appointed as minister of national security, serving from September 6, 2013.

Between May 2010 and September 2013, he had served as national security advisor to the prime minister.

Before that, Griffith was a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force for 15 years, attaining the rank of captain in 1998.