The Police Service is appealing to members of the public to once again cooperate with the authorities to help in reducing crime.
Speaking during the first media briefing to be held this year at the Police Administration Building in Port-of-Spain, public information officer acting ASP Michael Pierre said the media and the public had both played a part in reducing road carnage.
Attributing the decline to a concentrated public education campaign, Pierre urged the media and public to again join hands to assist in the reduction of illegal activities.
Unwilling to divulge what plans the Police Service were set to introduce to combat serious crime in the year ahead, Pierre said the authorities would be implementing certain measures.
Questioned about the spate of murders which had taken place since the start of the year, Pierre said seven had been recorded up to midday yesterday, whilst 15 were recorded for the same period last year.
Pressed to comment on the deaths of Jodel Ramnath, six, and Alvina Warner, 68—both of Beetham Gardens who were both hit by stray bullets during the fireworks celebrations on Old Year's Night—Pierre said no arrests had yet been made as the incidents were still under investigation.
However, he admitted that while the police would like to see a general reduction in the use of fireworks, they were very concerned about the criminal elements who continued to further promote the use of illegal weapons during times of such celebrations.
Turning his attention to the operations of the Child Protection Unit (CPU), Pierre said the new entity had been hard at work during the past eight months, as they investigated reports of abuse against minors.
Also present yesterday was acting Sgt Valarie Hospedales of the CPU, who revealed that during the period May 2015 to December 2015, there had been 1,358 reports of crimes committed against children. Of this number, 500 reports were of a sexual nature which included sexual penetration and sexual touching.
Mandated under the Children’s Authority Act No. 46.10 to engage in a collaborative relationship to ensure the care and protection of the nation’s children, the CPU’s primary role and function is to investigate matters of a sexual nature, physical abuse, abandonment/neglect and ill treatment of children, Hospedales explained.
Whilst the CPU is responsible for investigating the criminal aspect of such reports perpetrated against children, the Children’s Authority's responsibility is to simultaneously engage in psycho-social interventions, which assist the child to maintain a sense of stability in his/her life.
Asked if there had been any convictions in matters before the CPU, both Pierre and Hospedales said no as investigations were continuing into many of the reports.
Reinforcing that the legal age of consent was now 18 years and over—and not 16 years and over as before—Hospedales warned that sexual penetration for sexual gratification did not only refer to rape or buggery, but also to the penetration of all bodily orifices of the child inclusive of the nose, mouth and ears.
The police recorded a 24.6 per cent decrease in sexual offences and a 12.5 per cent decline in reports of sexual indecency against victims for the period 2014-2015.