National Security Minister Edmund Dillon says “abating of the crime rate cannot be sticking to any timeline.”
He said it has to be based on operations and an integrated approach to deal with the issues that confront us.
He was responding to questions from journalists at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain, on Wednesday.
“You can’t pin crime to a timeline because you never can tell what can happen in any one day. So you can’t pin it to a timeline,” Dillon insisted.
He said recent incentives implemented, including joint police/soldier patrols in Laventille, by the Government to deal with crime were having a positive effect.
So far, 180 people have been killed for the year, and in the last week alone 15 people were murdered. Dillon said Divisional Commanders of the Police Service have been given more responsibility to deal with the issue.
“The policies are working, they have been working,” he added.
He said there had been a reduction in murders in Laventille since the joint/army patrols were reinstated in January.
He insisted, however, that “nothing is static in security. So we have to continue looking at and amending our (anti-crime) strategies as we go along.
“They must be held accountable for what takes place in their division,” he added.
Dillon said he would be conversing with those leaders on a continuous basis. He said he would be visiting the respective division on an impromptu basis “to see for myself the issues and challenges.”
He said the commanders must have hands-on knowledge of what was taking place in their respective communities.
Dillon said he was in the process of establishing a team to look at the manpower audit of the T&T Police Service.
He said the team should be established shortly.
Also speaking with the media was Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, who said the recently passed SSA (Amendment) Bill was not as yet sent to President Anthony Carmona for proclamation.
Asked to comment on a letter sent to Carmona by activist Phillip Alexander, asking that he delay proclamation of the SSA (Amendment) Bill, Al-Rawi said he was not aware of the request by Alexander.
Al-Rawi also said the procurement legislation, which was before a Joint Select Committee, would be debated in the House of Representatives today.