Members of the public engaging in online purchases which will lead to visiting areas unknown to them to carry out cash transactions are being urged to go to their district police station in order to minimise the opportunity for theft and robbery.
Senior Superintendent of the Port-of-Spain Division, Roger Alexander, yesterday said they had not seen much of this type of crime occurring in his jurisdiction but he accepted that it formed part of recent scams employed by bandits to lure people to areas unknown to them under the guise of obtaining cheap deals.
“We are asking you that if you make a decision like that, don’t make arrangements to go places you don’t know or are unfamiliar with. Come by the station. We will not run you away. We prefer to prevent a crime than investigate it,” Alexander said.
“Come to the station, and state your purpose, and if the seller is so honest, he will come and everything will be done there and then.”
He added, “This doesn’t mean you need to come to the station and sit down by a table and do your transaction you know. It’s just to inform the police officer of what’s going on, and tell them it’s just for your safety, that you want to conduct the sale.”
Alexander said it was much the same for people moving around with large sums of money.
“Come to the station and interact with your police officers if you don’t have your own security network.”
He assured, “Gone are the days when people would claim we turned our backs to people. We want everyone to feel safe and secure. And the only how to do that is for we, the law enforcement officers, to provide that safety and security for all.”