The attorney representing the family of police shooting victim Joshua Samaroo says they believe Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro should step aside while investigations into the incident are ongoing, citing concerns about impartiality following the commissioner’s early public comments.
Speaking at a media conference at his Port-of-Spain offices on Thursday, attorney CJ Williams said the commissioner’s initial defence of the officers involved created a reasonable perception of bias.
“The commissioner came out with bravado and defended his officers at a stage when the facts were still unfolding,” Williams said. “Even the Law Association has indicated this may have been the wrong approach. To the ordinary citizen, that posture creates a reasonable perception of bias.”
Williams said the commissioner’s statements and subsequent administrative decisions must now be scrutinised to determine whether he should continue to lead the police service during the investigation.
“This is about preserving the integrity of the investigation. We have to ask whether his actions meet the threshold for him to step aside at this stage. That is not a radical position,” he said.
He also suggested that increased oversight by the Police Service Commission may be necessary, arguing that existing accountability mechanisms have failed.
“Whatever mechanisms we have relied on before have failed us,” Williams said. “The question is whether this will be another police shooting that fades away or whether this country finally decides to do something different.”
Samaroo was killed during a high-speed police chase on January 20, while Kaia Sealy, his common-law wife, was injured. Videos circulating on social media showing Samaroo’s final moments have intensified national debate over police conduct, accountability, and the handling of police-involved shootings.
Williams said the case has exposed structural weaknesses in how such incidents are investigated in Trinidad and Tobago.
“Joshua Samaroo’s situation is no longer just a family matter—it has become a public debate,” he said. “We are seeing a quantum disaster in terms of public confidence in the Government, the line minister, and the Commissioner of Police.”
He confirmed that his legal team has written to Commissioner Guevarro under the Freedom of Information Act, requesting documents and information related to the shooting.
“The questions we raised are very broad-based, but based on history, we expect to be told this is an active investigation and therefore the information will be denied,” Williams said. “Families are often left in the dark while the system investigates itself.”
Williams also criticised the investigative framework outlined by the commissioner, which involves a senior divisional officer, the Professional Standards Bureau, and the Police Complaints Authority.
“When you look at their track record, both collectively and independently, you have to ask what will be different this time. There is no pit here. There is no firewall,” he said.
While declining to comment directly on the Minister of Homeland Security, Williams expressed cautious optimism about the Minister of Justice’s involvement and argued that constitutional reform may be required to address police-involved killings.
“There has to be serious discussion about constitutional reform regarding police killings in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said. “Without that, public confidence in the TTPS will continue to erode.”
He also called on the Prime Minister and the National Security Council to treat the case as a defining national moment.
“This should be a test case to remove the negative impact on the Police Service that continues to reduce public trust and undermine any security plan the Government wants to implement,” Williams said.
Meanwhile, the Samaroo family revealed that Sealy was rushed back to medical care on Wednesday after experiencing breathing difficulties. Samaroo’s father, Christopher Samaroo, said she had initially been discharged but was later admitted to a private medical facility after her condition worsened.
“She was discharged, but a little while ago she was rushed back to medical personnel because she was having problems breathing,” he said. “That’s the last I heard. I don’t know how she is right now.”
Attempts by Guardian Media to contact Justice Minister Devish Maharaj were unsuccessful, as his phone was reportedly switched off.
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