Information from the director of the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) and the head of the Special Branch on August 10 led Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro to apply to Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander for five days of emergency leave to travel out of the jurisdiction.

Guevarro revealed this in a nearly three-minute-long audio recording released to the media yesterday, in the midst of speculation over reasons for his absence from the country and why the Police Service Commission (PolSC) had not appointed an acting top cop.

In his voice note, Guevarro said he followed the established process when he applied for emergency leave to travel out of Trinidad and Tobago and rejected suggestions that his absence had caused a crisis within the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS).