Intelligence-led and problem-oriented policing are among approaches that will maximise effective allocation of law enforcement resources to reduce crime, says former head of the National Operations Centre (NOC) Garvin Heerah.
The nation’s security agencies have launched an all out anti-crime offensive. At a joint press conference last week, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon and acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams, announced plans to boost crime prediction, deterrence, detection and prosecution.
However, Heerah is advocating an intelligence-led policing approach. He is calling for a national intelligence model to be adopted by all of T&T’s national security agencies.
“It was introduced and practiced during the tenure of the NOC, and agencies were mandated,” he said.
According to Heerach modernised responses must replace traditional crime fighting which simply focuses law enforcement resources on known hotspots.
He explained: “It aims to reduce crime proactively and sustainably by focusing on the most important problems identified by local communities, using careful analysis to define problems and inform multi-agency solutions.
“We are no longer dealing with an archaic criminal. The crimes, the criminals and the resources have changed, therefore law enforcement has to change its approaches to successfully detect, deter and respond to the new trends in crime.
“The start to this is reviewing the intelligence trade and adjusting considerably. It cannot be business as usual, or we will never bring this spiraling situation under control.”
Heerah is recommending that the T&T Police Service (TTPS) change from its current approach to crime control.
Former national security minister Gary Griffith, a security expert, is calling for the Crime Scene Investigations (CSI) Unit of the TTPS to be revamped. He said CSI officers needed to be properly trained and equipped for the job.
“The detection rate goes hand in hand with our systems and for CSI, it is pathetic,” he said.
“What they have now is not working. You need experts from the Forensic Department because these forensic pathologists have better knowledge of what needs to be done on crime scenes. These officers miss the simple things, so it is obvious that they cannot handle the meticulous details.”
Griffith said international expertise should be brought in to help to improve the CSI Unit.
He was critical of the anti-crime drive announced last week, saying it was nothing fantastic that all national security reserves had been called out, since that had been done for the past eight years, especially around Carnival and Christmas time.
Criminologist and criminal psychologist Renée Cummings said the TTPS was badly under-performing when it comes to catching killers.
Cummings, who also specialises in criminal profiling and behavioural evidence analysis, said the structural rigidity of the local police service had historically undermined change in the organisation, as well as “its ability to adapt quickly to the ever-changing dynamics of homicide and violent crime, and its ability to integrate critical thinking into police operations.”
She added: “Real time problem-solving is a major challenge for law enforcement and citizens are paying for it with our lives. Each homicide contains an important message about the state of our society, the legitimacy of our institutions, the moral quality of our citizens and the psychopathology of offenders. Criminal justice policy must be designed to address all areas.”
Cummings said that there was a deficit in knowledge among law enforcement personnel about the aetiology of homicide and possibilities of its prevention.
“The knowledge gap contributes to the high homicide and violent crime rate and the inability of law enforcement to solve homicides at a faster rate,” she said.
Creative thinking is needed for homicide reduction, Cummings said.
“Unfortunately, imagination is missing in the fight against crime because there is an over-reliance on old ideas and recycled military strategies that offer nothing new.”