Vice president of the Police Social and Welfare Association Insp Roger Alexander is advocating that the new People’s National Movement (PNM) Government and National Security Minister Major Edmund Dillon confirm acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams as CoP.
Williams has been acting in his position since August 7, 2012, when he succeeded then Canadian commissioner Dwayne Gibbs.
“It is important to confirm Mr Williams’ appointment as commissioner because you eliminate the thought of people saying that the police is politically aligned. We want to keep police independent at all times,” Alexander said.
He also called on Dillon to provide Williams with the necessary tools to adequately fight crime and allow him to manage the resources.
Pledging to assist the new Government in the crime fight, Alexander also called for a commitment from Dillon to ensure that the new Government did not pressure the police or try to influence their investigations.
“Do not get involved and put unnecessary pressure on the police while they conduct investigations because when you do that, it seem you are interfering,” Alexander said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
He said the fight against crime was not a lost cause and also urged better patrols along T&T’s porous maritime borders.
The proper monitoring of immigrants, the establishment of a DNA database, as well as legislation to extract samples from people entering and exiting the country, he said, would also assist in the fight against crime.
“We need to have a proper database with immigrants because right now we have no information on these foreigners. We need to pass laws so that we can extract DNA from every citizen and from every person entering and exiting T&T. This will assist us in fighting crime,” Alexander said.
He added that all citizens must be able to provide identification if they were outside their homes.
Alexander said proper discipline must be instilled in students between the ages of 14 and 19.
“We can use institutions like the Girl Guides, the Scouts and the Red Cross to instill these values,” Alexander said. (RS)