While the Government is boasting that crime is down to almost zero because of the state of emergency, bandits have hit several houses during curfew hours in the Orchard Gardens, Chaguanas, area. Terrified residents, at their wits' end over what to do, are pleading for police protection. It was on Xavier Street in the area that Crime Watch host, Ian Alleyne, showed video footage of a bandit recently stealing a car from a man at gunpoint. A resident, begging anonymity, told the T&T Guardian that shortly after the state of emergency was declared bandits tried on two occasions to break into his house while he and his family were asleep. "I know they are trying to get into my house. I don't know what they are trying to do but they trying," he said.
The man who works in Port-of-Spain said the first time the robbers came they went with parts from his car. The man said he made a report to the Chaguanas Police who told him they could not be everywhere at the same time and could not do anything unless they saw the bandits. He said he decided to see if he could capture them on film and set up a camera and left a light on. "I fell asleep and in the morning I saw the light was out. They threw water on it," he said. He said members of the community's crime watch group confirmed several other houses in the Orchard Gardens area were also hit by bandits during the curfew hours, which have been reduced to 11 pm to 4 am. Bandits broke into and robbed several houses.
He said bandits always targeted the middle class area but the state of emergency and curfew seemed to have made the situation worse. The Chaguanas Police said they received several reports of break-ins and robberies in the area. An officer said: "I don't know about it happening during curfew hours. We understand the attacks were made during the day when residents went to work." The officer said they have since increased patrols in the area.