As Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar meet to discuss spiralling crime today, divisional police commanders say they are unfazed by impending challenges but with no additional resources being allotted to the T&T Police Service, the commanders say other law enforcement agencies can be better utilised to assist them in the fight against crime.
In an interview yesterday, head of the South Western Division, Inraj Balram, said his troops were very willing to make the best use of whatever resources were available to them.
Asked whether a stoppage of additional resources would pose a setback to ongoing crime initiatives, Balram said: “Not necessarily. I intend to maximise whatever resources we have and focus on specific areas which pose a problem.”
Asked to elaborate, Balram said he wanted to have 24/7 monitoring of coastal areas where drugs and guns were smuggled in.
“We do not manufacture guns but the availability of weapons here is cause for concern. As a leader, I want to help the Coast Guard to monitor this but with limited resources only certain areas can be monitored at certain times. Based on the intelligence we gather, we will move accordingly,” he said.
He said he would not necessarily need to call out officers from vacation to do that.
“We are going to restrategise and use our resources wisely,” he added.
He agreed that the Coast Guard and Regiment could be used to boost patrols and assist in roadblocks, sting operations and community problems, adding: “All help is welcome but if we are to get the soldiers to have a permanent presence the minister will have to look at it.”
He was hesitant, however, to say whether the private sector should be allowed to contribute to providing resources for the TTPS.
“We have to do a study for this because we do not want to undermine the independence of the Police Service as we do our duties,” he added.
Balram also said crime and the fear of crime were affecting the economy as it impacted negatively on investor confidence. Saying national security should always get the largest chunk of the fiscal pie, he said he would continue to ensure his division maintained the best crime detection rate in the country.
Head of the Southern Division, Adeline St Louis-Pesnell, said she too was undaunted by news that the TTPS would get no additional resources to fight crime.
“I have always felt empowered as the commander but I am mandated to use whatever initiatives necessary to reduce the crime in my division. Despite what the Prime Minister said we will not refuse additional resources because we will be further empowered to implement more patrols, more exercises, more community projects, sting operations, community activities, community patrol officers and so on if we have additional resources,” she said.
However, St Louis-Pesnell said she had been calling out staff on leave.
“People have been coming off their rest days to assist with the initiatives. We have had some success and we are prepared to persevere and increase our success despite our challenges,” she said.
She said while there was no new crime plan they would continue to address criminal migration, deportation and the influx of illegal immigrants in T&T.