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PM Releases SoE Report Showing 5,802 Arrested, 3,552 Charged Over Six Months
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has published a declassified report detailing arrests, charges and Preventive Detention Orders during Trinidad and Tobago’s six-month State of Emergency, describing the period as “highly successful”.
In a statement posted to her official social media page, Persad-Bissessar said 5,802 people were arrested and 3,552 were charged, representing approximately 61.2 per cent of all persons arrested.
The figures contained in the accompanying report cover the period from March 3 to September 10, 2026.
According to the document, the 3,552 people charged comprised 2,154 people charged in connection with Serious Reported Crimes, 816 for Minor Crimes and 582 for Minor Offences.
Serious Reported Crimes therefore accounted for approximately 60.6 per cent of those charged, while Minor Crimes represented 23 per cent and Minor Offences 16.4 per cent.
Among the Serious Reported Crime categories, possession of firearms and ammunition accounted for the largest number, with 558 people charged.
This was followed by robbery with 246, general larceny with 238, breaking offences with 225 and possession of narcotics for trafficking with 214.
The report also recorded 140 people charged with fraud offences, 118 with sexual offences, 69 for wounding or shooting, 66 for home invasion, 48 for motor vehicle larceny, 46 for murder and 41 for kidnapping.
Other serious crime categories brought the total to 2,154.
Among Minor Crimes, 494 people were charged with possession of narcotics, making it the largest category in that section of the report. Other charges included possession of apparatus, minor larceny, assaulting police or peace officers, fraud-related offences and malicious wounding.
The Minor Offences category included 129 breach-of-peace charges, 115 assaults on police, 54 assault or threat cases, 39 cases involving being armed with a weapon and 23 gambling or betting offences, along with other offences.
574 PDOs executed
The report also provides figures relating specifically to Preventive Detention Orders.
It states that 801 PDO applications were recommended, 702 were approved and 574 were executed.
Of the 574 people detained under executed PDOs, 240 were reported as having been charged, representing approximately 41.8 per cent of the PDO cohort.
The remaining 334 people, or 58.2 per cent, were not presently reported as charged in the PDO-specific data.
The document specifically cautions that those 334 people should not be described as having been cleared of criminal involvement. It states that the figure means only that they were not presently reflected in the PDO-specific charged total and that investigations may remain ongoing.
Charges against PDO detainees covered a wide range of alleged offences, including firearms and ammunition offences, robbery and home invasion, murder and attempted murder, kidnapping, burglary, narcotics offences, gang-related offences, trafficking in persons, sexual offences, fraud, assault, immigration offences and public-office or corruption offences.
Home invasion figures highlighted
The report also provides what it describes as wider crime context for offences occurring at dwelling houses.
According to the figures, 535 such incidents were recorded in 2024, compared with 307 in 2025, representing a decline of approximately 42.6 per cent.
The 2025 total included 31 murders, 79 burglaries and breakings, 177 robberies and 20 shootings and woundings.
For 2026, the report states that 238 home invasion incidents had been recorded to date, while 66 people were charged specifically with home invasion during the third State of Emergency.
The document warns that the two figures should not be directly compared because they represent different reporting measures and periods.
PM declares SoE successful
In publishing the report, Persad-Bissessar said the figures demonstrated the results of the wider law-enforcement actions conducted during the State of Emergency.
She claimed crime had decreased across all police divisions and said the primary threat that prompted the emergency measures had been reduced.
The Prime Minister also used the statement to warn people involved in organised crime, drug trafficking and illegal firearms that the Government’s enforcement efforts would continue following the end of the SoE.
Persad-Bissessar said her Government was working with local and foreign law-enforcement authorities to pursue individuals involved in the drug and firearms trade regardless of their wealth, connections or community.
She also warned criminals and their supporters that the Government would continue taking strong measures against criminal activity after the emergency period ends.
Persad-Bissessar said she decided, on the advice of the Attorney General, to declassify and release the report in the interest of transparency and accountability.
She thanked the Attorney General, Ministers of Defence, Homeland Security and Justice, the Commissioner of Police, Chief of Defence Staff, Acting Commissioner of Prisons, Director of the Strategic Services Agency and members of the protective services.
She also thanked citizens who provided information, supported lawful operations and endured inconvenience during the emergency period.
While the report provides extensive figures on arrests, charges and PDOs, the description of the six-month SoE as “highly successful” and the assertion that it caused crime to fall across all police divisions represent the Government and Prime Minister’s assessment of the operation.
