“Confidential national security matters would not be disclosed publicly.”So said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday as she declined to reveal the circumstances that led Commissioner of Police Allister Guevarro to take emergency leave and travel outside Trinidad and Tobago.In response to questions from the Express, Persad-Bissessar, who chairs the National Security Council (NSC), said Guevarro had followed the required procedures before leaving the country.
Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro
“The CoP followed all required protocol with regard to his emergency leave. I was briefed before his departure and upon his return. Confidential national security matters would not be disclosed publicly,” she stated.On Wednesday, Guevarro released an audio recording providing an explanation for his absence.
PolSc chairman:Dr Wendell Wallace
He indicated that information received from the director of the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) and the head of the Special Branch on August 10 led him to apply to Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander for five days of emergency leave to travel out of the jurisdiction.The Opposition had raised questions about the top cop’s absence and why the Police Service Commission (PolSC) had not appointed an acting commissioner of police during the period.In his voice note, Guevarro said he followed the established process when he applied for emergency leave to travel outside Trinidad and Tobago and rejected suggestions his absence had caused a crisis within the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS).Guevarro, however, did not disclose details of the information received from the SSA and Special Branch that prompted him to leave the country.He said Alexander approved the application and he was subsequently informed the relevant correspondence had been forwarded to the PolSC.Guevarro said the appointment of an acting commissioner was not a matter for the TTPS or the Commissioner of Police, but was governed by law and dealt with by the relevant authorities according to their respective mandates.He said after returning to Trinidad and Tobago, he briefed the chairperson of the NSC and the Minister of Homeland Security.Guevarro said any further enquiries into the matter should be directed to them and that he would not comment further on the reason for his travel.However, both Persad-Bissessar and Alexander have remained tight-lipped about the circumstances that triggered Guevarro’s emergency leave.The Express has also been attempting to contact PolSC chairman Dr Wendell Wallace since Sunday, but calls and messages to his phone have gone unanswered.Acting appointment processUnder Section 123 of the Constitution, the appointment of someone to act as commissioner of police is not made automatically by the TTPS when the substantive commissioner leaves the jurisdiction.The Constitution gives the Police Service Commission the power to appoint a person to hold or act in the office of commissioner or deputy commissioner of police.Section 123(3) requires the PolSC to submit to the President the name of the person nominated for appointment as commissioner or deputy commissioner, including an acting appointment.Under Section 123(4), the President then issues a notification in respect of the nominee, which must be approved by an affirmative resolution of the House of Representatives before the acting appointment can take effect.The procedure was followed before when Guevarro was scheduled to travel abroad while serving as substantive Commissioner.In October 2025, the PolSC nominated Deputy Commissioner of Police Junior Benjamin to act as commissioner while Guevarro attended the International Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Conference and Exposition in Denver, Colorado, USA.The conference ran from October 18 to 21, 2025, with Guevarro’s absence from the jurisdiction spanning several days.The President’s notification nominating Benjamin to act as commissioner was laid in the House of Representatives on October 10, 2025.Assistant Commissioner Curt Simon was also nominated to act as deputy commissioner while Benjamin moved up to the commissioner’s post. Parliament subsequently approved both acting appointments.During that parliamentary debate, Government MPs stated that the acting appointments were necessary because Guevarro was travelling abroad.The Parliament is currently on recess and scheduled to re-open in September.
