THE Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), through its Crime and Problem Analysis (CAPA) branch, has yet to gather all the data surrounding the arrest rate during the State of Emergency.

This, according to the TTPS public information officer Sgt Wayne Mystar, who was speaking during the daily press briefing yesterday at the Police Administration Building, Sackville Street, Port of Spain.

Mystar was at the time responding to claims the SoE crime statistics provided by the Government are inconsistent with those provided by the TTPS via CAPA.

CAPA is responsible for collecting and analysing all of the crime data from across the country.

Mystar said CAPA is currently "in the process of collating all the information" so that the media will have "the big picture". Following the compilation of the information, a release will be issued and the media will be fully informed of the result, he said.

Asked whether the Government got their crime statistics from CAPA, Mystar said, "That information of course will be given from our CAPA branch." However, he later said he could not say if CAPA had provided the information used by the Government. He further stated that the information presented during the press briefings was given by CAPA.

Asked to account for differences highlighted in an Express report yesterday between CAPA figures, Government figures and figures released by the TTPS during the daily State of Emergency press briefings, Mystar said: "CAPA would have responded to requests made for specific information...With respect to the information released our CAPA branch is responsible for releasing such information,... I am not saying that they (Government) did not get the numbers from the police. I'm saying that CAPA is the one authorised to release figures."

He added that the total figures released either through the briefings or otherwise are not the final figures. He explained that when the figures are tabulated, the numbers for the entire year will be released to give a better comparative idea of the SoE successes.

Mystar said the TTPS did not say the SoE was a success but that there were successful instances during the period.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Mervyn Richardson, speaking on December 5 at a training programme for officers attached to OCNFB, Airports Authority, Customs and Port Authority funded by the European Union, boasted of a "successful" SoE.

"The heads of the TTPS are reviewing the SoE and will reveal some of the negatives and positives when the review is over," Mystar said yesterday.