One day after director of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) David West reported that there was an increase in the number of complaints of misconduct against police officers, the authority has reported that they are probing a video and an accompanying social media post which alleges improper activities by the police.
A media release from the PCA on Monday reported that they were aware of a video being circulated on social media which shows three policemen appearing to take cash from a businessplace.
Text circulated with the video claims that the incident took place in north eastern Trinidad and also alleged that the matter was reported to the Professional Standards Bureau (PSB) last year.
In their release the PCA noted that they initiated an independent investigation into the incident under Section 26 of the PCA Act, Chapter 15:05.
The association is also calling on the public with any information on the incident to come forward and assist investigators.
Contacted for comment, one officer said while the video would be investigated, he did not want to draw any conclusions based on the footage until all the facts were gathered.
"The video was very concerning to us, however, I want to be wary of seeing only one side of a story.
"I know that several illegal Play Whe operators were targeted over the past year and at various places some cash was seized and people charged, so the possibility exists that the video may not be telling the entire story.
"It could be part of a legitimate police operation and the cash being taken is seized and entered as exhibits for the courts."
The officer said that while this was a possibility, it was still a serious allegation and would be thoroughly investigated.
"Once we see something like this it will be investigated.
"We won't take it lightly and pretend as if we don't see it, because we want to ensure that the officers operate with a certain standard of professionalism."
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