All branches of the protective services, the police, the army, the coast guard, the prisons service, are in dire need of a meaningful number of recruits. This shortage has to be addressed as a matter of priority. Why is it that young Indo-Trinidadians continue to be under-represented in these fairly well-paid career positions of employment? Is it that an invisible barrier exists because of parents wishing for their children to only apply for training as doctors, lawyers, dentists, architects or whatever?
There should not be any racial profiling in this day and age. We are overs that. And as Dr Cudjoe writes, it is at last the season of the Indians-Indian Time Ah Come. Crime is happening in the East, the West, the North, the South and growing by leaps and bounds in Tobago. And crime itself, like the flood waters of the rainy season, is not bothered by ethnicity.
In order to get a handle on crime, recruitment officers should make a special effort to encourage more participation of all citizens in the protection of the nation. It is not only a female Indian Prime Minister that is needed. There is a need for more Indo-Trinidadians/Tobagonians to get out there and serve. Indian time is right this minute.
Lynette Joseph
Via e-mail