PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Feb 3, CMC – The director of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), David West, says it is not an offence to use their cellphones to record police and all matters which involve breaches of the law after a High Court judge called for the mandatory use of body cameras by police officers.
“Now we have had complaints where persons have been filming police officers, and they have confiscated their phone or mash up the phone. That’s an offence. That is wrong, West said on the state-owned Talk City 91.1 FM, hours after Justice Frank Seepersad Monday urged citizens and law enforcement personnel to rely on cellphones and CCTV cameras to record police encounters until such measures are in place.
The issue of police killings has drawn nationwide attention following the January 20 death of a motorist, who was killed in a hail of bullets after a car chase involving law enforcement officials.
Lawyers representing the family of 31-year-old Joshua Samaroo has since sent a pre-action protocol letter to Police Commissioner, Allister Guevarro, giving him a 30 day deadline to disclose any evidence, including body-worn camera footage, ballistic reports or witness statements that would support claims of an exchange of gunfire.
Speaking on the radio programme, West said the PCA would continue to independently and thoroughly investigate police-involved shootings.
“In 2024, there were 37 incidents with 54 victims. And last year, there were 55 incidents with 68 victims. Right now, they have four victims, as we know, right now, since last week. So we have been doing all this.
“ We have to investigate all of these matters. And an investigation is not as simple as people think, because we do a thorough, independent investigation,” West said, adding that special attention is placed on cases where there are reports of an exchange of gunfire.
“Because we will then look at the autopsy report, post-mortem report, and we can determine whether the angle of the bullet, where it came in. If the post-mortem report matches the victim, okay, to see whether what the police said, we know he may have been shot in the back, the police may have said when he was facing forward, so therefore that tells us that something’s untoward.
“We also look at whether there was gunshot residue. Whenever there’s a police-involved shooting, and the person is supposed to have a firearm, you’re looking for gunshot residue.”
West said, noting that after the investigation is completed, the choice lies in the hands of the Commissioner of Police.
The PCA Director expressed his support for the use of body cameras.
As he handed down a ruling on Monday, in which a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment successfully sued the State for wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution, Justice Seepersad spoke of the near-total erosion of public trust in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS).
“This case again highlights the need for a review of the laws pertaining to police accountability. Recent statistics have indicated that public trust and confidence in the TTPS is under 1 per cent. For a Republic which is besieged by rampant lawlessness, this is disturbing and deplorable,” the judge said as he awarded Elton King TT$100,000 in damages along with his legal costs.
King, a corporal with 15 years’ service, brought legal action against the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the Commissioner of Police and PC Marvin Burke, arising out of an incident on April 15, 2020.
The judge found that Burke, who confronted King at a gas station, was “unprofessional”, and that King was fully entitled to record the interaction on his cellphone.
“This court accepts the version of events as advanced by the claimant and finds as a fact that police officer Burke, who subsequently confronted the claimant, was unprofessional, and the claimant was entitled to adopt the procedure which he engaged so as to record the events which were unfolding.”
The court rejected Burke’s claims that King had pushed his phone into Burke’s face, thereby assaulting him.
“If the police’s version was taken at its highest it is impossible to understand how the recording could have amounted to an assault, Justice Seepersad said, adding that “the assertion that the phone was thrust into the face of the officer lacks credibility and is rejected, as no utility would have been achieved by recording his nostrils.”
When King later went to the police station to collect the phone and report Burke’s conduct, he was arrested, detained overnight in unsanitary conditions, and charged with assaulting a police officer, disorderly behaviour and dangerous driving.
Those charges were dismissed in August 2021 for want of prosecution after police witnesses repeatedly failed to attend court.
The judge was critical of the “appalling failure” by the leadership of the TTPS to correct the “crass and disrespectful manner in which far too many officers interact with citizens.
“The curbing of crime requires public cooperation and the relationship between the police and the public is symbiotic. Effective policing is contingent upon the provision of credible information provided by discerning members of the society. When public trust and confidence in the TTPS is almost nonexistent it is obvious that crime will not be curtailed.”
Justice Seepersad said in the absence of legislation to hold officers personally liable for damages arising from malicious prosecutions, the mandatory use of body cameras should be prioritised.
“Contemporaneous recordings provide the best evidence and protect all the parties involved. Until this is done, CCTV cameras and cellphones must be used to record all interactions between citizens and the police and citizens are urged to use their phones to record all matters which involve breaches of the law and the manner in which the police engage the public.
“As the guardian of the Constitution, this court will unapologetically ensure that the rights of citizens are protected and will continue to declare that violations will not be tolerated. The abuse of police authority has no place in a functional democracy and the TTPS must remember that their mandate is to protect and serve, not to persecute and subjugate,” Justice Seepersad added.
CMC/ak/ir/2026