The man credited with bringing a halt to gang wars in Los Angeles in 2014 with his unique leadership of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) is now a Senior Superintendent with the T&T Police Service (TTPS.)
Yesterday, Robert Clarke was sworn in as a Special Reserve Police (SRP) at the Police Administration Building in Port-of-Spain, with Police Commissioner Gary Griffith acting as a witness.
The oath of office was administered by Acting Deputy Commissioner of Police, Harrikrishen Baldeo.
Back in August Guardian Media reported that Clarke was among a team hired by a group of private-sector business people- the T&T Citizens Alliance Against Crime- in December 2018 to assist the T&T Police Service in dismantling and prosecuting criminal gangs who have been linked to the majority of murders in the country.
At that time, Clarke told Guardian Media the team had come up with crime-fighting and crime prevention programmes tailor-made to combat T&T’s spiralling crime rate, especially the out-of-control gang wars.
Clarke said his initiatives would make a difference because they had been “right-sized” for T&T.
He said he had trained 45 local police officers in one phase of a local programme to educate children about human trafficking.
Griffith confirmed Clarke’s appointment in a brief telephone interview with Guardian Media yesterday but said he was unable to give further details as he was heading into a meeting at the time.
The TTPS’ Corporate Communications Unit issued a release yesterday evening, saying Clarke was brought in to assist the TTPS with best practices in dealing with homicides and gang-related activities.