What anti-crime plans?

IN SPITE of all the grandiose efforts made so far to deal with the frightful crime problem, the police in many areas of the country are still unable to respond rapidly and effectively to the appeals of citizens for help. Unbelievably, persons who have been attacked or robbed, and worse yet those who are actually under assault, are still receiving the scandalous reply from police stations: “Sorry, we cannot come right away because we are short staffed and we have no transport.”

If after all the public agonising about violent crime in our country, if after all the outraged complaints about the inability of the Police to respond to victims’ calls for help, this kind of uncaring impotency still exists, then it seems that we might as well resign ourselves to the fact that, regardless of all the master plans, the fight against crime is effectively over and the criminals have emerged victorious. This has to be the case because the most fundamental and basic force in dealing with crime in TT is, and always has been, a network of alert, well-equipped and adequately manned police stations throughout the country.  That, in our view, should be the first essential in ensuring that an effective team of peace-keepers exists in every part of the country, capable of protecting and serving their community and dealing quickly with any criminal activity that may arise within their jurisdiction.

In other words, before all the grand designs, before the formation of all the special squads and units, before all the optimistic strategies and operations, the authorities should have concentrated, as a matter of priority, on upgrading the country-wide network of police stations in terms of physical accommodation, technology, manpower and technology. With their ears to the ground, these stations, active in community activities, should also be able to pick up important and useful pieces of intelligence, particularly those located in the more crime-prone districts of the country. But it seems that this elementary approach to turning back the crime wave has not received the thrust it deserves and outrageous episodes are still occurring such as last Monday’s in which 28-year-old Anil Kesso had to defend himself, his home and his family from armed intruders after his desperate appeals for help from the police proved unavailing. Shortly after midnight, Kesso and his wife were awakened hy the barking of dogs and strange noises outside their small Longdenville home. On checking, Kesso said he saw four men dressed in black lurking near his front yard. He called 999 and informed the police about what had occurred.

Less than two hours later, the couple were again awakened, this time by the same men, bandits apparently, pounding on his front door. Kesso told Newsday that he tried calling E999 to no avail. The police at the 999 unit, who did not respond to his first call, referred him to the Chaguanas Police Station who, in turn referred him to the Longdenville Police Post where the officers informed him that they could not respond “right away” because they were short staffed and had no transport. Imagine this; a man’s home is being invaded by intruders; frearful for his life, he calls all the police stations and emergency units for help but gets an unconcerned runaround and finally told that no assistance was available because of understaffing and lack of transport. Could anything be more outrageous? Kesso was forced to defend his home by himself, chopping one intruder as he attempted to enter through a broken window. So much for all the great anti-crime initiatives. The criminals are on top.