Gary Griffith is a former commissioner of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, having served a term in office for the period 18 August 2018 to 17 August 2021 Under the previous government, led by a coalition including the party currently in Opposition, he had been appointed as Minister of National Security in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

on Friday 6 September 2013. Between May 2010 and September 2013, he had served as National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister. Griffith was a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force for 15 years, where he attained the rank of captain in 1998. He retired his Commissioned Officer position in May 2005. This attainment to the rank of captain was achieved after just six years service, which was an unprecedented achievement. He was the first military officer from this country to return home with a United Nations Peacekeeping Medal. He has also received the Efficiency decoration medal DMfor 12 years distinguished service as well as the Meritorious medal for duties performed during the 1990 attempted coup in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

Education and early career

Gary Griffith attended St. Mary's College for eight years, from 1976 to 1984. After completing his Advanced Level studies he then began a career in the Military, and was enlisted on 1 June 1988. Griffith is also the holder of a MSc in Security Management from the Department of Criminology in the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, however, as can be noted from his achievements and experience, his managerial capabilities is not limited to security alone but also General Management, Public Relations, Protocol, Event Management and Human Resources to name a few.

Military career

1988–1990 In 1988 Gary Griffith enlisted into the Regiment and was immediately Commissioned by His Excellency the President Noor Hassanali to the rank of Second Lieutenant. After undergoing an intensive one year recruiting training programme in Trinidad, he was then selected to attend the prestigious and world-renowned

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...

in Surrey, England, where he attended a one-year

Platoon Commander {{unreferenced, date=February 2013 A platoon leader (NATO) or platoon commander (more common in Commonwealth militaries and the US Marine Corps) is the officer in charge of a platoon. This person is usually a junior officer – a second or firs ...

's Course in England, Wales and Cyprus. After successfully completing the course, he was also awarded the Brunei Award.
1990–1995 During the first half of his career from 1990 to 1995, after returning to

, he held several levels of command among those being Platoon Commander, Detachment Commander, Company Second in Command, and Adjutant. He was actively engaged in Operations during the 1990 Attempted Coup in

to ensure democracy was maintained and upheld. 1995–1999 In 1995 he was appointed as the aide to the Chief of Defence Staff under Brigadier General C Alfonso. He remained in this position from 1995 to 1999, under both Brigadier General C Alfonso 995–1999 and Commodore A. Franklin

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Books * ''999'' (anthology) or ''999: ...

In 1998 he was promoted to the rank of captain, after just six years' service, which was an unprecedented achievement. He was then appointed Administrative, Finance, Welfare and Logistics Officer for over 300 troops from the CARICOM Forces that participated in the United Nations Mission in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. The United Nations Peacekeeping Mission was a six-month tour of duty, and was Trinidad and Tobago's first-ever deployment of troops to participate in a peacekeeping operation under the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. At the end of a successful tour of duty, he then had the honour of being the first-ever military officer from this country to return home with a United Nations Peacekeeping Medal.

Law enforcement career

On 6 August 2018, the Police Service Commission of Trinidad and Tobago announced the appointment of Gary Griffith as the new commissioner of police of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. Mr. Griffith received his letter of appointment on Friday 3 August 2018, as the new commissioner from Ms. Bliss Seepersad, chairman of the Police Service Commission.

Political affiliations

In September 2000, Captain Griffith was then personally requested by the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

of the Republic of

, the Honourable Basdeo Panday, to be reassigned to work directly with the

himself, initially as the

Comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executi ...

of the Prime Minister's Residence, then also had him appointed as the

military attaché A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...

to the

, whereby Captain Griffith acquired several other responsibilities. His role then became similar to that of the aide de camp to the president; hence he was also required to accompany the prime minister at most of his engagements. He was previously an acting senator for the Opposition and the advisor for two Opposition parties on

National Security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...

matters. He was the security adviser to the political party the

United National Congress The United National Congress ( UNC or UNCTT) is one of two major political parties in Trinidad and Tobago and the current parliamentary opposition. The UNC is a centre-left party. It was founded in 1989 by Basdeo Panday, a Trinidadian lawyer, e ...

from 2004 to 2006 and then the security adviser to the political party Congress of the People from 2006 to 2010, when he was then appointed as the National Security Adviser. In 2013 under the

People's Partnership The People's Partnership (PP) was a political coalition in Trinidad and Tobago among five political parties: the United National Congress (UNC), the Congress of the People (COP), the Tobago Organization of the People (TOP), Movement for Social ...

Gary Griffith was appointed National Security Minister, becoming the fourth person to hold the critical post, since the

Government took power in 2010. In 2022, Gary Griffith formed a new political party, the National Transformation Alliance (NTA). He publicly expressed his ambition to become TT's next prime minister.

Removal from office

On 2 February 2015 the former Minister of

, Gary Griffith and former attorney general

Anand Ramlogan Anand Ramlogan is a member of the Bar of Trinidad and Tobago, England & Wales and the British Virgin Islands. He is the founder and head of Freedom Law Chambers which is based in the city of San Fernando, Trinidad. He served as junior counsel to ...

were revoked of their appointment to office under request by former prime minister of

Kamla Persad-Bissessar Kamla Persad-Bissessar ( ; born Kamla Susheila Persad, 22 April 1952), often referred to by her initials KPB, is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian lawyer, politician and educator who is the Leader of the Opposition of Trinidad and Tobago, politica ...

, along with the call for resignation from the former director of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) David West following their roles in a witness-tampering investigation ordered by acting police commissioner Stephen Williams. The former prime minister also revoked the appointments of former senate president Timothy Hamel-Smith, former sports minister Rupert Griffith, former Ministry in the Works and Transport Minister Stacy Roopnarine, former minister in the National Security Ministry Embau Moheni, and former justice minister Emmanuel George. Persad-Bissessar had also given up the portfolio of Social Development and People Ministry. Griffith was succeeded by retired brigadier general Carlton Alfonso, who held the position as Minister of National Security until the general elections of 2015, in which the

People's National Movement The People's National Movement (PNM) is the longest-serving and oldest active political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party has dominated national and local politics for much of Trinidad and Tobago's history, contesting all elections sinc ...

was elected into government. The allegations started when former director of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) David West, had signed a statement in which he claimed that the former attorney general

had asked the director of the PCA to withdraw a witness statement he had made in a defamation matter against the Opposition Leader at the time. Ramlogan denied the allegation and an investigation was subsequently launched by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. Shortly following, it was alleged that Gary Griffith, upon the advice of

, telephoned the director of the PCA to query whether or not he had withdrawn the witness statement in question. The former minister had later confirmed that such a call had indeed taken place. A few days later, on the night of 2 February 2015, the former prime minister addressed the public and press on the matters surrounding the investigation, in which she stated, "While I am not in a position to determine neither guilt nor innocence in this matter, it is of grave enough consequence to warrant serious consideration and immediate action." This was followed by stating that a request had been made to former president Anthony Carmona for the immediate removal of former attorney general

and former minister of national security Gary Griffith, along with the removal of former senate president Timothy Hamel-Smith, former sports minister Rupert Griffith, former Ministry in the Works and Transport Minister Stacy Roopnarine, former Minister in the National Security Ministry Embau Moheni, and former justice minister Emmanuel George. The former prime minister subsequently requested the appointment of former minister of legal affairs Prakash Ramadar to also serve as the minister of justice, Christine Hosein as Minister of the People and Social Development, Brent Sancho as Minister of Sport, Kwasi Mutema as Minister in the Ministry of National Security, Garvin Nicholas as Attorney General, and retired brigadier general Carlton Alfonso as Minister of National Security.

References

External links

* http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.tt * http://www.ttconnect.gov.tt/gortt/portal/ttconnect {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Gary Government ministers of Trinidad and Tobago Living people Trinidad and Tobago military personnel Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the Senate (Trinidad and Tobago)