The Commissioner says a 22% officer shortage drives overtime. Records show $794 million was paid over 32 months.
Commissioner of Police Allister Guevarro says a 22% shortage of officers is behind the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service’s heavy overtime spending, and he challenged the way recent reports presented a figure of nearly $800 million.
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show the TTPS paid $793.9 million in overtime between January 2024 and August 2026, the Trinidad Express reported Thursday. That was $233.9 million in 2024, $276.8 million in 2025 and $283.2 million in the first eight months of 2026. Monthly payouts rose from about $19.5 million in 2024 to $23.1 million in 2025 and about $35.4 million this year. The records were released in response to a request by attorney Keron Ramkhalwhan on behalf of his client, Vishal Persad, who called for an independent audit of overtime in the service.
Guevarro said the TTPS is operating with 22% fewer officers than it needs while keeping up an operational tempo that he said has pushed crime to its lowest level since 2007, without restricting leave. He said overtime is therefore necessary, and that a mass recruitment exercise now under way will bring a matching drop in overtime as more officers join.
Guevarro said the service has averaged about $400 million a year in overtime and that the $800 million figure was simply two years of spending added together. The released records show $233.9 million paid in 2024 and $276.8 million in 2025, both below the average he cited, and they cover 32 months, not two years.
He also said no First Division officers, including himself, are eligible for overtime, and he criticized the attorney for presenting the total as a revelation and for misrepresenting who can claim it. The records list $627,898.92 for 10,902 hours of overtime under the Office of the Commissioner of Police. The Express report did not say who in that office claimed it.
A breakdown by unit shared by TLN News shows the largest totals in the GEB ($105.0 million), the IATF ($90.7 million) and the Southern Division ($90.3 million).
Ramkhalwhan said overtime “is meant to be the exception, not the rule” and called on the Police Service Commission or the Government to order an independent audit.
Guevarro said operations would not ease through Christmas and Carnival, so that criminals cannot erode the recent gains in crime reduction.
This report is based on information from the Trinidad Express, TLN News and remarks by Commissioner of Police Allister Guevarra.