Better police work if street name changed?

One of his favourite comments on the Police Service, when he was frustrated with what often transpired within, was how the recruitment process operated.

He frequently stated that the process was a very simple one back then.

Basically, recruits were selected by the sizes of the uniforms in inventory at the time.

Another popular anecdote was the one about the police constable accosting a thief breaking into a store on Abercromby Street in Port-of-Spain and marching the guy to Park Street to make the formal arrest.

It was said the PC had a bit of difficulty with spelling Abercromby.

One would like to put down these comments as pure Trini humour at its worst. But we are left to wonder.

The authorities speak about fighting crime and increasing the detection rate for crimes.

They also speak about the estimated $25 billion that was spent on the Ministry of National Security over the last five years, and now a further $125 million will be injected into the service to improve it.

Unfortunately, recently on my street, a good neighbour, one house away from mine’s, was robbed in broad daylight.

She had decided at around 5 pm to do some weeding in her garden.

Her opened back door no longer being in her sight, a thief snuck into her house and cleaned out all of her valuables.

The police were called and they arrived promptly — mid-morning — the next day.

Not one neighbour in the area was interviewed by the police as to whether we noticed any strange people or vehicles in the area. Not one.

Now, we do not expect to have the same super investigative capabilities as we see in the NCIS or other police shows on television. But for God’s sake, what about basic boots-onthe- ground investigative procedures? How can we expect to get the detection rate up if there is no attempt at detection.

A number of house invasions in the area reveal the same story — no canvassing of the area, no interviews, nothing.

Residents are considering lobbying the authorities to rename our street Park Street.

V Lutchman Maraval