Shane Su­perville

Se­nior Re­porter

shane.su­perville@guardian.co.tt

In an ef­fort to bridge the gap be­tween law en­force­ment and the com­mu­ni­ty, of­fi­cers from the Mara­cas St Joseph Po­lice Sta­tion came to­geth­er yes­ter­day to not on­ly com­bat crime but al­so nur­ture stronger re­la­tion­ships with res­i­dents.

Through a live­ly cook­out and com­mu­ni­ty re­la­tions event, they pro­vid­ed a space for open di­a­logue and uni­ty.

The event, which al­so dou­bled as a fundrais­er for a chil­dren’s sports day lat­er in the year, fea­tured a one-day crick­et tour­na­ment, mu­sic, treats, and free med­ical check-ups from vis­it­ing doc­tors.

Al­so at­tend­ing the event were of­fi­cers from the po­lice Vic­tim and Wit­ness Sup­port Unit, who en­cour­aged vic­tims of crimes to come for­ward and seek their sup­port if need­ed.

Speak­ing with Guardian Me­dia at the Mara­cas, St Joseph recre­ation ground, near the com­mu­ni­ty cen­tre, Sgt Sean Be­dase said the event was not on­ly in­tend­ed to con­nect res­i­dents with valu­able ser­vices but al­so build stronger re­la­tions be­tween the of­fi­cers and the com­mu­ni­ty they serve.

“We (the po­lice) want to be as present as pos­si­ble to get that to­geth­er­ness back with all the com­mu­ni­ties back in the val­ley.

“A lit­tle more con­nec­tion is need­ed, and in that, I can def­i­nite­ly see the crime would go down and the trust would be re­gained be­tween the pub­lic and the po­lice.”

Among the at­trac­tions at the fair were hors­es from the TTPS Mount­ed and Ca­nine Branch as well as drones from the po­lice Air Sup­port Unit.