Even with the introduction of a state of emergency (SoE) as a public health response to covid19, which remained in effect from May 15 to November 17 – just over half of the year –, murders remained the number one challenge for the police.
As of December 31, there were 447 murders, a noticeable uptick from the 398 recorded in 2020, but still significantly lower than 2019's total of 537.
From the tragedy of murdered court clerk Andrea Bharatt in February to gang warfare in Port of Spain and Tunapuna in August and September 2021 showed a gradual increase in murders.
The carnage began early on New Year's Day when 42-year-old Darryl Villafana was attacked and chopped to death by men at his Geranium Drive, Morvant home.
Hours later, at around 10.25 pm on New Year's night, 42-year-old Aarif Mohammed was beaten to death, allegedly by two Venezuelan men, at a house in Macoya Extension, Tunapuna.
One of the most prominent cases was Bharatt's death. On January 29, she got into what she thought was a taxi to go home in Arima but was abducted by two men.
[caption id="attachment_932513" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The murder of court clerk Andrea Bharatt ignited outrage across the country and led to the formation of the Candelight Movement which demanded justice for crimes committed against women and girls. Here are two children who joined the protest outside the Red House. - Photo by Ayanna Kinsale[/caption]
Her decomposing body was found on February 4 off a precipice in the Heights of Aripo, after widespread searches by police and members of the public.
Bharatt's father Randolph, when contacted by Sunday Newsday on Friday, said he did not have much to say as the grief remained fresh.
"I broke down at 6 am because I'm awake since 2 am." He wondered how the parents of people who committed the crime felt about their actions.
"You have to find out how the parents feel about the things they have done."
When asked what suggestions he had for the police to improve crime-fighting capabilities, Bharatt said, "They need serious people to fix the problem."
Bharatt's murder stirred nationwide outrage from various advocacy groups, non-governmental organisations, religious groups and private citizens who called for more to be done in protecting women and girls.
[caption id="attachment_932516" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Police at the crime scene where five people were murdered at St Micheal's Village, off St John's Road, in Tunapuna on July 14. The crime remains unsolved. - Photo by Roger Jacob[/caption]
In March more than a month later two boys, Semion Daniel, 15, and Antony Francois, 16, escaped from the Children's Authority Child Support Centre.
Days later on March 28, they were gunned down near an abandoned house in Desperlie Crescent, Laventille, at around 7.30 pm, when two men dressed in police uniforms walked up to them and shot at the group of men who were sitting near them.
While speaking with reporters before the beginning of an anti-crime exercise in Laventille and east Port of Spain in S
