Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams says the police have not lost the war against crime. He said so following a security meeting with Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Security Orville London and Minister of National Security Gary Griffith at the Mt Irvine Bay Hotel.Williams said although there had been the bloody start to the year, with seven murders recorded in just the first two days, there has been a decrease in serious crimes in T&T. He admitted, however, that violent crimes need to be seriously addressed.
"In 2013 we recorded 12,800. We have not between 1984 to 2013 recorded a lower number of serious crimes in T&T, so therefore the issue of losing the battle against crime could never be correct," Williams said."What we have seen is a situation where violence has continued to plague the country and we have to address the issue of violence, so for 2014 the police service is pursuing violence reduction strategies all geared toward ensuring that we have a major impact on the levels of violence in the country."
With one murder recorded in Tobago for the year, Williams assured Tobagonians that greater effort will be made to secure the island. He said officers on the island will be provided with the necessary resources to combat crime. "There is clear assurance to the chief secretary that the needs of Tobago in the context of policing will be specially looked at. We have committed to providing the necessary and adequate resources to deal with policing in Tobago." Williams said.
"We do in fact know that Tobago is an island in which the economy is heavily built around tourism and tourist-oriented policing is critical, so we are providing the necessary manpower and mobility and all the necessary support in the context of policing in Tobago."
A tourism police unit, additional special reserve police officers, a fleet of new vehicles for the Tobago Division, establishment of a canine unit and scanners at the air and sea ports are some of the initiatives to be undertaken in t6he coming months to fight crime on the island.