Safe Carnival targetted

A proposal to prevent school children under 16 years from converging in large numbers on the streets of Port-of-Spain on Carnival Friday, is expected to be sent to the Ministry of Education today. This is one of the many proposals which the police will be sending to Minister of Education Hazel Manning in a bid to deal with the unruly behaviour among school children in the city. More police will be at strategic points on the streets during the Carnival season.

Newsday learned that the police would meet with Ministry of Education officials later this week to discuss Friday’s incident which saw three students being charged by the police. Seventy other students were warned about unruly behaviour and their names were recorded by the police. Police sources revealed yesterday that thousands of police officers including  regular police and Special Reserve Police officers would be out on the streets from Carnival Friday to midnight on Carnival Tuesday to ensure that Carnival 2005 is incident free. A police source said that more than  7,000 police officers would be on duty.  Army officers will also be in joint patrols with the police. 

Police officers  would be placed strategically at different locations and venues to prevent stabbings, pick-pocketing and other crimes. Officers from the Mounted and Canine Branches would also play a key role in the anti-crime measures this year. Traffic officers will mount a campaign from Carnival Friday aimed at dealing with errant motorists. Those same officers would also assist their colleagues in searching vehicles for illegal weapons and drugs. A senior officer said yesterday that Carnival over the past three years have been incident free and the police intend to keep it that way. Special attention will be paid to people leaving Piarco and police patrols would escort visitors to and from the airport. As part of the anti-crime measures for Carnival, all members of the police service will be heavily utilised in a bid to make Carnival 2005, one of the safest .

All police officers, including those who work as clerks or do office duties, as well as Court and Process officers, will be given specific duties starting from Carnival Friday. Detectives are expected to be placed strategically among revellers on J’ouvert morning and during the big band presentations, to preserve law and order and detect any illict activities. Road blocks will also be introduced early Monday in a bid to seize illegal arms, ammunition and drugs. Revellers have been advised that it is against the law to be in possession of knives or any weapons during Carnival celebrations. Knives, ice picks, and other devices deemed as weapons will be seized and persons arrested.

Officers of the anti-crime unit would carry out helicopter patrols while officers of the Stolen Vehicles Squad will also carry out patrols to deal with larceny of cars. This week the tourist board will issue care packages of safety tips to visitors for Carnival. Temporary police posts will also be set up where carnival celebartions are taking place. Parents have been advised to place tags on their children clearly outlining their names, addresses and contact numbers in the event that they get lost.