My deepest heartfelt condolences go out to the family of PC Anson Benjamin who succumbed to gunshot wounds to the head.
A similar fate met Sgt Manwarring when he responded to a call of a robbery in progress on Cipero Street, San Fernando. There was another case of a constable who tried to kick down a door at the scene of a robbery in progress only to be met by a hail of bullets. Thankfully, he survived.
These three instances are intrinsically linked. The scenario is always the same with only two officers responding to a robbery in progress with terrible results.
Something is woefully wrong with the manner our police officers respond to robberies in progress. Where was the back-up? Where was the Task Force? Critical information was not known to the police. They went into a situation without the necessary information and established international protocol.
So PC Anson Benjamin has lost his life. How many more policemen must die before the TTPS puts systems in place to bring the full force of the police to respond to robberies in progress?
To add insult to serious injury, the Government has not put in the place the compensation of one million dollars to be paid to the families of policemen who die in the line of duty.
I hope CoP Williams looks upon PC Anson Benjamin’s death as a wakeup call to put systems in place to respond to robberies in progress.
John Jessamy
Fyzabad