A Law Most Citizens Do Not Know Exists

Trinidad and Tobago has a law that requires ordinary citizens to assist police officers on demand — and that carries a penalty of up to $10,000 and one year in prison for non-compliance. Most people have never heard of it.

Section 60 of the Police Service Act, Chapter 15:01 of the Laws of Trinidad and Tobago provides that if a police officer calls upon a person to assist them while in the execution of their duty — whether the officer is being assaulted, resisted, or is in danger of being assaulted or resisted — and that person refuses or neglects to assist without reasonable cause, they are liable on summary conviction to a fine of $10,000 and imprisonment for one year.

Attorney Martin George discussed this provision on CNC3 in the context of a recent incident, explaining what the law actually says and why the public's reluctance to comply, while legally risky, is practically understandable.

What Section 60 Actually Says

The relevant provision reads:

> If any person is called upon by a police officer, who is in the execution of his duty, being assaulted or resisted or in danger of being assaulted or resisted, fails to assist accordingly without reasonable cause, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of ten thousand dollars and to imprisonment for one year.

The critical phrase — the one that Martin George identified as the legal escape clause — is "without reasonable cause".

The offence is not absolute refusal. It is refusal without reasonable cause. This distinction matters enormously.

The Reasonable Cause Question in T&T's Current Context

In many other jurisdictions, a citizen who is called upon by a police officer to assist in an arrest will respond without hesitation — because the risk of doing so is low and the culture of civic cooperation with law enforcement is strong.

In Trinidad and Tobago, the calculation is different. Martin George put it plainly: in the current security environment, a citizen who intervenes to help police arrest a person faces real risks of reprisal. The person being arrested — or their associates — may mark that citizen as someone who "played police." The risk of being targeted later is not hypothetical.

In that context, a person who declines to assist may well have reasonable cause for doing so. Fear for one's safety, in a society where violent reprisal is a genuine concern, is a legitimate basis for declining to place oneself in harm's way. Whether a court would accept that reasoning would depend on the specific facts — but the statutory escape clause exists, and a defence based on reasonable cause is available.

What This Means for Citizens

The practical implications of Section 60 are worth understanding:

You can be called upon. If a police officer in the execution of their duty is being resisted or assaulted and calls on you for assistance, the law obliges you to respond.

Refusal carries a penalty. Refusing without reasonable cause is a criminal offence, triable summarily in the Magistrate's Court.

"Reasonable cause" is your defence. The law does not require blind obedience. If you had a genuine and reasonable basis for your refusal — including fear of personal harm or reprisal — that is a defence that can be raised in proceedings.

Context matters. What constitutes reasonable cause in a quiet neighbourhood dispute is different from what constitutes reasonable cause in a gang-controlled area at night. The courts are expected to take circumstances into account.

Calls for Reform

Section 60 has attracted calls for repeal or amendment, and Martin George weighed in on whether the law remains fit for purpose in present-day T&T. His position: the law itself is not necessarily wrong in principle — civic cooperation with law enforcement serves important social purposes — but its application in the current environment requires the courts to interpret the "reasonable cause" exception generously.

A law that effectively punishes citizens for exercising ordinary self-protective instincts — in a society where those instincts are well-founded — needs either careful judicial interpretation or legislative reform to remain just.

Watch the Interview

Martin George discussed Section 60 of the Police Service Act on CNC3:

If you have been charged under Section 60 of the Police Service Act, or if you have questions about your rights and obligations in relation to the police, contact Martin George & Company. We handle criminal defence, constitutional rights matters, and public law cases across Trinidad and Tobago.