MINISTER of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds on Friday cited several past incidents of dubious conduct to justify a bill for members of the protective services and of some divisions of the Public Service to be required to undergo drug-testing or lie-detector testing or to submit their biometric details. He piloted the Miscellaneous Provisions (Testing and Identification) Bill 2022 in the House of Representatives.
He said the bill gives a discretion to the head of certain departments in the public service or protective services only in specific circumstances as had already been done in the UK, US and Canada.
Hinds said some officers had been subject of serious and sustainable allegations that they had been involved in "all manner of activity" and this bill could be a deterrent so as to ensure a high standard of integrity. At present only the police service allows drug testing, he said, and this is at the recruitment stage and then on randomly during the course of employment.
Hinds said the law needs a special majority to be passed as it violates three areas of the TT Constitution - the right to protection of the law, family/private life, and equality of treatment.
He said the bill amends existing laws such as the Judicial Legal Services Commission (covering the Customs and Excise, Immigration and Inland Revenue Divisions, and Registrar General department), Prison Service, Defence, Fire Service and Financial Intelligence Unit Acts. Other public agencies, he said, may have to be added to those included by the bill.
Hinds justified the bill by saying that since the 1990s certain corrupt activities such as the importing of drugs and guns could only have happened with the complicity of the State, some of whose officers had now put TT in a position where this bill was necessary. "I'm aware of a case where it is suggested a man owed this country $11 million in taxes and wound up paying a small $1 million of something like that, and there was a serious suspicion on the part of an officer of the State. So many things are possible."
Hinds said an automatic weapon went missing from a police station recently in dubious circumstances.
"Weapons go missing from the Coast Guard. I'm aware of a case where engines were stolen from a Coast Guard vessel.
"I'm aware of customs officers who are being paid and sworn to protect our people and our interests and simply turn a blind eye and allow illicit things to go through."
He recalled a police vehicle with two officers in south west Trinidad being found with guns and drugs, apprehended by other police officers.
Hinds said the bill will protect honest officers against tip-offs by rogue colleagues.
"These measures will assist the protective services to help each other to know that the man next to you was not the one who would have called in advance to tell somebody, 'We coming' "
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