Senior Reporter
shane.superville@guardian.co.tt
Some Sangre Grande residents admit that while there has been a heightened police presence in their district as a result of the State of Emergency (SoE), they have denied claims that an unofficial curfew is being enforced by officers on patrol, as they note that life continues as normal in their communities.
Last week, Guardian Media was contacted by a resident who claimed that an informal curfew was in effect in different parts of Sangre Grande, with officers on patrol directing people inside their homes.
While some police sources said officers on patrol can advise persons to return to their homes, there was no real basis to force someone to remain indoors.
Under the Emergency Powers Regulations, the police can arrest someone whom they suspect of committing or intend to commit an offence.
“Oftentimes, what happens is that officers would drive through a given area on patrol and see a group of men who they consider to be suspicious-looking, or who they may even know are considered ‘priority offenders.’ They would warn them to go inside or get locked up when the officers pass again,” the police source said.
Jamal Charles, a resident of Robinson Lane No 1, Damarie Hill, told Guardian Media on Monday night that he was unaware of such incidents, noting that he was never confronted by police who urged him to return inside.
Charles said he was usually on the road at late hours of the evening, visiting his mother, who lives nearby and would have noticed such activities.
He admitted, however, that Sangre Grande has become increasingly unsafe in recent times, noting that his mother was struck by a stray bullet sometime ago.
Referring to empty streets in communities like Robinson Lane and Blake Avenue on the outskirts of Sangre Grande’s commercial centres, he said this was due to residents preferring to stay off the streets rather than a police-mandated curfew.
When asked if he felt the latest SoE would yield any crime-fighting results, Charles said he was not optimistic, as he felt that criminals would find a way around police exercises to carry out their activities to avoid detection.
“They will know how to work around it... they just know how to do things at a different time and affect the youths on a human level.”
Another Damarie Hill resident said while she often saw police on foot and mobile patrol since the beginning of the SoE, there were no unusual activities.
Several kilometres south, on the Cunapo Main Road in Coal Mine, fewer people were seen outside with only four vehicles passing on the street within a span of 20 minutes.
Over the years, several murders, woundings and home invasions have been reported in Coal Mine.
One resident, who was throwing away garbage, said many homeowners operated businesses from the front of their homes and were wary of strangers in the area as they experienced a wave of robberies earlier in 2025.
“I wasn’t going to come out when I saw you all (Guardian reporters) outside, but I came out anyways.
“We tend to stay inside even before this thing (the SoE) began because you could never tell who watching you and coming for what you have.”
Meanwhile, in the city centre, the fear of crime was also clear, as taxi driver Dexter Lezama said he was cautious of which passengers he agreed to transport.
Lezama said he was robbed at gunpoint twice and worked the Manzanilla to Sangre Grande route for his own safety.
“I’m a praying man, so for me, I know what to do before I come out here. I’m not saying things can’t happen, but I work Manzan short and I work this area because I know the people.”
One vendor, Sean Bissoon, a proprietor of Kamal’s Mini-Mart, said he has never had problems with bandits in the years he has operated the business, crediting this to the proximity of his store to the Sangre Grande Police Station.
Bissoon, however, said he has seen a slowdown in the number of pedestrians through the area since the SoE was declared.
On Monday, Guardian Media sent questions via e-mail and WhatsApp to DCP Suzette Martin and an official from the TTPS Corporate Communications Unit for confirmation on whether police were enforcing an informal curfew in Sangre Grande.
A TTPS spokesperson confirmed that the questions were forwarded to Martin; however, no response was received up to press time.
Sources said Sangre Grande, in recent police intelligence briefings, has been described specifically as an area of “emerging gang territory,” as there was information of suspected criminals fleeing urban city centres in Port-of-Spain, Tunapuna and Arima and hiding out in parts of Sangre Grande.
One officer noted that an uptick in woundings and murders in and around Sangre Grande over the past two years was due largely to drug deals, illegal quarrying and emerging gang warfare in the area.
He said specific focus was being directed to Damarie Hill, Blake Avenue, Quash Trace, Coal Mine, Guaico and Picton Road in Sangre Grande.
