Appeal Court: TTPS tear gas policy ‘leaves a bit to be desired’

THE Appeal Court has dismissed a challenge to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service’s (TTPS) policy governing the use of tear gas, while acknowledging that the policy has shortcomings and should be improved.

The ruling was delivered yesterday in an appeal by Nichole Jordan-Alexis, who sought permission to bring judicial review proceedings against the Commissioner of Police over the deployment of tear gas at the Queen’s Park Savannah in January 2022. Justices Prakash Moosai and Charmaine Pemberton dismissed the appeal, finding that Jordan-Alexis had failed to establish an arguable case with a realistic prospect of success that the policy was unconstitutional or that the police acted unlawfully, irrationally or unreasonably. However, the judges acknowledged concerns about the policy’s lack of detail concerning tear gas.

“The contents of the policy as framed within the document, however, leave a bit to be desired,” the court stated, adding that its deficiencies had “undoubtedly opened the door” to arguments raised by Jordan-Alexis.