A large percentage of respondents also felt the hiring of a new Commissioner of Police would not see a reduction in the crime rate.
Those who showed faith in the CoP said:
• He has the expertise to do a good job. He is well qualified, experienced and strategic
• He has to be given a fair chance.
• He appears to be willing to work hard.
• He needs a lot of support from everyone in the country.
Those who felt he won't be able to reduce serious crimes said:
• He is not familiar with crime in Trinidad and does not understand our culture.
• Criminals are not afraid of him.
• Crime is still high, he has not made any change.
• He will not get the support from local senior officers who were bypassed for the job.
To the question, do you believe that the current Police Commissioner will reduce serious crime, approximately half of the respondents stated "no". Specifically, 31 per cent said "yes", 51 per cent "no" and 18 per cent "don't know". Analysing responses by ethnicity showed a 21 per cent difference between Afro-Trinidadians and Indo-Trinidadians stating "no". Specifically, 61 per cent Afro-Trinidadians, 56 per cent Mixed and 40 per cent Indo-Trinidadians do not believe that the current Police Commissioner will reduce serious crimes. Correspondingly, Indo-Trinidadians were more likely to indicate "yes" as 41per cent Indo-Trinidadians, 31 per cent Mixed and 20 per cent Afro-Trinidadians said "yes". The response "don't know" was stated by 19 per cent Afro-Trinidadians, 19 per cent Indo-Trinidadians and 13 per cent Mixed people.
Similar results were observed between males and females, as 52 per cent males and 50 per cent females said "no", while 33 per cent females and 30 per cent males said "yes". "Don't know" was given by 18 per cent males and 17 per cent females. Across age groups, young adults were the least likely to state "no" as 45 per cent of the 18-30, 51 per cent 31-40, 55 per cent 41-50 and 53 per cent 51-plus age group gave that response. Marginal differences were noted for people indicating they believe that the current Police Commissioner will reduce serious crime as 36 per cent of the 18-30, 32 per cent 31-40, 31 per cent 41-50 and 29 per cent 51-plus age group stated "yes". The response "don't know" was given by 14 per cent and 19 per cent of respondents across age groups.
With regards to education, similar responses were observed across groups as 53 per cent of primary, 52 per cent secondary, 50 per cent technical/vocational and 49 per cent university educated people said "no". Primary educated persons were the least likely to state "yes" as 36 per cent technical/vocational, 34 per cent secondary, 31 per cent university and 26 per cent primary educated people gave that response. Primary (21 per cent) and university (20 per cent) educated people were more likely than secondary (14 per cent) and technical/vocational (14 per cent) educated people to state "don't know".
Ratings
Do you believe that the current Police Commissioner will reduce serious crimes in this country?
Yes-31%
No-51%
Don't know-18%
