Manpower shortage

A MANPOWER shortage has reportedly led to the closure of mobile police units at the St Ann’s roundabout and the Brian Lara Promenade, Port-of-Spain over the weekend.

The Downtown Owners and Merchants Association had made requests for a mobile unit in the capital’s busy shopping district after a rise in crime in recent years. An eye-in-the-sky unit was also set up on the promenade but it has been non-functional.

Newsday learnt that the manpower shortage continues to affect all police divisions. In the northern division, the shortage last week led to officers from one station being sent to another station, while in the eastern and southern divisions, senior officers complained they were at their wits’ end trying to run stations with limited manpower.

Almost all second division police officers now have an excess of two months’ leave and have expressed interest in the government buying out the long leave.

Recently, the human resource department of the Police Service gave notice to all divisions that police officers with excessive leave will be required to proceed on that leave.

More than half of the police service are now on leave at this time and officers believe that if they are sent on leave, it could cripple operations in the service.

Secretary of the Police Second Division Sgt Noel Chase said a proposal for Government to buy out the leave of officers has been sent to the Ministry of National Security.

However his association had not received any response from the National Security Ministry and a fresh proposal will be sent shortly.

Junior National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds said yesterday that he had requested a report on the proposal from the ministry. He promised to furnish Newsday with the information once it became available to him.