Trinidad and Tobago: Police Commissioner condemns confidential data leak, calls It ‘Petty Malice’

Trinidad and Tobago: Commissioner of  Police Service, Allister Guevarro, issued a statement, in which he strongly condemned the leak of confidential vacation leave records of senior officers within the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), describing the act as "petty malice" and "outright sabotage."

In an official statement issued on Saturday, Commissioner Guevarro confirmed that, a social media blogger circulated the leaked documents online, which has the detailed accumulated vacation leave of senior officers. He also said that those documents also include the leaves of the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Wayne Mystar, who was sent on 16 months' leave.

He also said that the information was leaked deliberately and intentionally by a "not-so-anonymous" source, to mislead the public and to damage the credibility of the police Service.

Along with this the commissioner explained that the decision to have the officer ‘Mystar’ proceed on his accumulated leave was made after discussing it lawfully and in accordance with his lawful entitlements while aligning it with strategic planning and not by personal target.

“The controversy surrounding the decision to send Mystar on leave and the reassignment of portfolios among Deputy Police Commissioners (DCPs) Junior Benjamin, Natasha George, and Suzette Martin, was all fake”, commissioner stated.

Guevarro also expressed his concern on the unauthorized release of personnel data which  risked all the compromising deployment strategies and also violated the strict confidentiality rules.

Further he criticized the social media blogger, who published all the documents and data while describing and mentioning the act as  "digital gossip dressed up as relevance". He also said “there is a reason why the reputable and recognised media house is called media house because they never do such things and never give any reckless speculation.”

He reaffirmed his commitment to transparency and fairness to the TTPS and to the general public while stating that trading the government’s confidential data and documents of few likes and comments is not journalism.

The community expressed their views on the controversy within the TTPS, while some people questioned the reasons behind Mystar's leave and the reassignment of portfolios among senior officers. They are also questioning the credibility of the officers of Trinidad and Tobago.