Government · Developing · 2 min read · Published 29 Oct 2026 · Updated 29 Oct 2026 ·
PM Cites Lower Murder Counts; TTT Reports Differ on Totals
Updated · 29 Oct 2026 ·
A later TTT account of the Prime Minister’s evening speech gives 283 murders through 26 October, against 518 in 2024 and 305 in 2025. These differ from the earlier report’s 280 and 523. Both accounts and their different cut-off wording are now explicit; no original police table has reconciled them. Added her reported overtime-funding pledge.
By the Luk It Hyah newsdesk · Sources · Reporting disclaimer
The Short
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has cited lower murder figures while pledging support for the Police Service. Two TTT reports of her statements give different 2024 and 2026 totals. Both comparisons describe a larger fall against 2024 than against 2025; the underlying police figures remain to be reconciled.
Related public figures: Kamla Persad-Bissessar
The Full Story
An earlier TTT report of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s October comparison gave 523 murders at 28 October 2024 and 305 in October 2025. For 2026, that report, published on Thursday afternoon, cited 280. Those are attributed figures from the report, not a police dataset independently obtained by Luk It Hyah.
Sources: TTT News, 29 Oct ↗
Using those figures, the decrease from 523 to 280 is about 46.5%, while 305 to 280 is a fall of 25, or 8.2%. The earlier report did not clearly specify matching cut-off dates for all three years. Its near-46% comparison therefore concerned 2024, rather than the change from 2025.
Sources: TTT News, 29 Oct ↗
In a later report of the Prime Minister’s remarks at the Police Service’s Divali celebration on Thursday evening, TTT instead cited 283 murders between January and 26 October 2026, compared with 518 over the corresponding period in 2024 and 305 in 2025. Those numbers imply decreases of about 45.4% against 2024 and 7.2% against 2025. TTT described the two-year reduction as 46%.
Sources: TTT News, 29 Oct, 9:18 p.m. AST ↗
The later account does not reconcile its 283 and 518 with the earlier report’s 280 and 523. The published cut-offs also differ in detail. No original police table was available in the reviewed material, so this update preserves both reported comparisons rather than silently choosing one as the confirmed total.
Sources: TTT News, 29 Oct ↗ · TTT News, 29 Oct, 9:18 p.m. AST ↗
At the evening function, Persad-Bissessar said her Government had provided TT$458 million for police overtime this fiscal year, for properly authorised claims, and pledged continued support for officers. She also called for integrity and fair treatment of vulnerable people. These are her reported statements; the reviewed account supplies neither a payment ledger nor evidence that particular measures caused the reported crime reductions.
Sources: TTT News, 29 Oct, 9:18 p.m. AST ↗
Sources
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