An estimated 300,000 people enter the city of Port-of-Spain daily, according to the Traffic Division of the Ministry of Works and Transport.
That includes people travelling to and from work, to shop and to conduct business with the Government and private establishments. It also includes the young vegetable vendor who was killed early on a Saturday night back in November and an off-duty policeman who lost his life on the same night in the same incident.
That figure also included a grandmother, a young mother window shopping through Port-of-Spain, a schoolgirl heading home, and a toddler.
At the end of last year, the country reeled at the news that gunmen began shooting in downtown Port-of-Spain, injuring nine innocent people and killing one.
These innocent bystanders were victims of a growing trend of random explosive gun violence in Port-of-Spain. On any given day and at any given time innocent citizens going about their daily business can become collateral damage in the city. The city is neither safe for business nor leisure.
•For 2020, just two weeks into the new year, the capital city recorded another multiple shooting. In this instance, three innocent bystanders, including an 18-year old, were shot in the melee.
•In December in Upper Laventille, five-year-old Zachary Hernandez was shot in the leg.
•On that same day, the same gunmen went to Prince and George Street and opened fire, killing 53-year-old Lystra Patterson who was in a taxi. Eight others were also injured.
•An off-duty police officer, Sgt Roger Williams was also a victim of the downtown shooting spree.
•There was also a report in November of a shooting incident near the South East Port-of-Spain Secondary School when gunmen allegedly climbed up on the roof of the Plannings at Upper and Lower Nelson Street and fired off shots at each other. Students barely escaped injury but one teacher was grazed on the hand by a stray bullet.
•In June 2019, three students were treated for injuries and mental trauma after a drive-by shooting in Belmont. One of those injured was just six years old and the other was 15. They were reported to be the children of a known gang leader. At that time, an 18-year-old bystander was also shot in the leg.
According to data provided by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, in Port-of-Spain alone, there were ten murders in 2018 and five in 2019.
An uptick in random shootings
For 2019, a total of 102 guns were recovered by police in Port-of-Spain last year.
While that figure is lower than the number of guns recovered by the Northern, Southern, Western and Central divisions, it is only in Port-of-Spain that there was an uptick in random shootings with high-powered weapons.
Guns recovered in Port-of-Spain in 2019:
Revolver 13
Pistol 59
Shotgun 4
Machine gun 2
Rifle 24
In 2016, the Ministry of Rural Development published a Local Area Economic Profile.
According to that document, the 2010 Citizen Security Survey showed that Port-of-Spain had the higher than average number of victims of crime (37.6 per cent) within the last ten years, and people reporting that crime was a problem in their community (58.8 per cent).
•Yet, only 18.8 per cent of Port-of-Spain’s respondents indicated that there was a gang in their neighbourhood.
•Residents in Port-of-Spain also did not feel safe and this was reflected in the survey by a small percentage of persons who felt very secure (2.4 per cent).
•More than six out of ten respondents felt fearful in the last year about the possibility of becoming a victim of crime (64.7 per cent) and did not have much confidence in the police services to effectively control the crime problem in the country (49.4 per cent).
•According to statistics on crime and violence in the various police divisions compiled by the Crime and Problem Analysis Unit (CAPA) of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, Port-of-Spain had the highest level of reported serious crime per 100,000 people in the country (4,800 reports).
$37 billion for national security
Like clockwork, every time there is a shooting or another violent crime, questions are raised on social media and on political platforms about the Government's seeming inability to tackle crime.
But, according to the 2015 manifesto, the PNM knew then that "the capital city (was) plunged into fear and panic" because of crime.
"Violent crime is out of control, while white-collar crime, especially money laundering, bribery, corruption and theft from the people’s purse, has reached epidemic levels," the PNM said.
The PNM manifesto baulked at the idea that the murder rate exceeded 400 for 2013 and 2014 and "there has been no reduction in the murder rate for this year with over 250 murders in the first seven months of 2015."
Minister of National Security Stuart Young at a post-Cabinet press briefing on Thursday questioned who stood to benefit from crime spikes, especially in an election year. Young suggested that there may have been deliberate attempts to destabilise our country and said that citizens have been facing possible acts of terror and lawlessness with the recent upsurge in the homicide rate and random shootings.
He confirmed that towards the end of December and in the last week, the country saw a spike in murders. Young has been accused of politicising crime.
Yesterday, in a release, he said he had no interest in politicising crime.
"Crime affects all in our society and is not limited to our country. I have been working assiduously, and within the scope of my authority, with all of the arms of National Security in the fight against the criminal elements," he stated.
"We have been utilising new techniques in the fight and will be employing new technology as well.
"I give the assurance, that I will continue to do all in my power to make our beloved twin-island state safer and more secure."
From 2015 to 2019, the Government has allocated over $37 billion in the budget to the Ministry of National Security in the fight against crime. The previous administration spent $26 billion in the five years before that.
While there is no breakdown on the way the Ministry of National Security used its budget, back in 2016, the ministry launched a body cam project where it outfitted 60 officers with cameras.
In 2018 it was reported that 100 cameras were found in storage and would be distributed to Emergency Response patrols. By February 2019, the initiative extended to 180 more stations.
•According to the Public Sector Investment Programme 2019, the TTPS was allocated $28.24 million from the ministry's budget and of that figure, some $16.1 million was used on 11 projects, including:
1. 35 infrastructural projects at 29 police stations.
2. Refurbishment works of four youth club buildings.
3. Establishment of four Juvenile Booking stations.
4. Upgrade of administrative offices in Tobago.
5. Expansion of the roofing structure at the Homicide Bureau of Investigations.
•In 2018, the TTPS was allocated some $77.2 million from the ministry's budget.
Of that figure, some $65.6 million was used to "fund the execution of 50 infrastructural projects at 27 police stations.
"Critical equipment was procured and ten new vehicles were added to the patrol fleet."
•In 2017, the TTPS selected 96 "target items" and was allocated $75.3 million of the national security budget.
There was no further breakdown of any spending in the PSIP.
•In fiscal 2016, TTPS was allocated some $$148.4 million and spent $117.5 of that on the following:
1.Construction of a facility for firearms simulator training.
2.Civil works at the Police HQ
3.Creation of additional office accommodation at the Professional Standards Bureau.
4.Refurbishment of seven stations
•In fiscal 2015, the TTPS used some $42.2 million from the entire national security budget. They used that money for the construction of five new police stations and civil works at the old Police Headquarters.
Govt mum on social programme
The Government has also remained mum on whether it implemented the Cure Violence programme in 16 communities in downtown Port-of-Spain as promised in last year's budget statement.
In October, during his budget contribution Finance Minister Colm Imbert said that the Government was partnering with the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) to roll out a pilot programme in economically vulnerable communities in downtown Port-of-Spain on January 1, 2020.
The programme was expected to be initiated in the following communities:
-Beetham Estate.
-Belmont, Eastern Port-of-Spain.
-Eastern Quarry, Gonzales.
-Laventille, Marie Road.
-Mon Repos, Morvant.
-Never Dirty, Picton.
-Port-of-Spain Proper.
-Romain Lands.
-Sea Lots.
-St Barbs.
-Upper Belmont.
According to the 2017 IADB report, that same programme was already piloted in Port-of-Spain and environs and ran for two years between 2015 and 2017.
According to the IABD report, in T&T, the local adaptation of Cure Violence was known as Project REASON (Resolve Enmity, Articulate Solutions, Organise Neighbourhoods).
The report also found that T&T had the highest per capita crime-related costs out of the 17 countries included in the study.
"Although Trinidad and Tobago had one of the highest government expenditures on crime prevention in the region, “for every dollar spent on security, only 15 cents [was] spent on prevention," the report found.
"Because the costs of crime in Trinidad and Tobago are among the highest in the region, determining the cost-effectiveness of the country’s crime-prevention efforts is especially important," the report stated.
The initiative began in July 2015 and ended in August 2017 and was implemented in 16 urban communities in the Port of Spain metropolitan area, including Beetham Estate, Belmont, Eastern Port of Spain, Eastern Quarry, Gonzales, Laventille, Marie Road, Mon Repos, Morvant, Never Dirty, Picton, Port of Spain Proper, Romain Lands, Sea Lots, St. Barbs, and Upper Belmont at a total cost of US$937,139.82.
According to the IADB findings, approximately two years after the implementation of Cure Violence, the violent crime rate was 45.1 per cent lower in the treatment area than in the control area in 2016.
It also found that the crime rate was 44.9 per cent lower in 2017 after the programme was initiated
•This translates to an estimate of approximately 142 violent crimes prevented in the first 12 months and an additional 120 violent crimes prevented in the next 12 months.
•With approximately 262 violent crimes prevented at a total programme cost of US$937,138.82, we estimate the cost of preventing one violent crime reported to the police to be approximately US$3,577.