Trinidad  and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has declared a new State of Public Emergency (SoE), effective Tuesday, March 3, 2026, following what she described as a surge in violent gang-related crime and credible intelligence of planned attacks on members of the protective services.

In a statement issued Monday night, Persad-Bissessar said the National Security Council met at the Diplomatic Centre and received security briefings from Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro, Chief of Defence Staff Don Polo, and Strategic Services Agency head Alicia Henry.

According to the Prime Minister, the Council noted that since the previous SoE ended on January 31, there has been an increase in violent criminal activity across the country, much of it attributed to organised criminal gangs. She said several of the recent incidents involved mass shootings and multiple fatalities, with reprisal attacks threatening to spiral further if left unchecked.

The Council was also advised of intelligence indicating credible threats to attack police officers, prison officers and other members of the security and legal services.

Persad-Bissessar said she had previously warned gang members and recently released detainees that renewed lawlessness would trigger a firm response. Reaffirming her position, she declared that individuals engaged in violent gang activity would be returned to prison and that those aiding and abetting criminal enterprises would also face the full force of the law.

“In light of the foregoing and in all the circumstances,” she said, the NSC advised Her Excellency the President on March 2 to declare that a State of Public Emergency exists in Trinidad and Tobago, effective March 3. The President assented that same day.

The Prime Minister framed the measure as consistent with Government’s “zero-tolerance” approach to crime, citing what she described as successful joint operations by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service and the Armed Forces over the past ten months, along with legislative initiatives and ongoing criminal justice reforms.

Persad-Bissessar maintained that the objective of the renewed SoE is to prevent a reversal of recent gains in reducing murder and violent crime, and to safeguard law-abiding citizens from what she termed escalating gang reprisals.

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