Spying on criminals

WE HAVE always felt that, in the fight against crime, the Police Service was weak in the area of intelligence gathering. We suggested that our crime fighters needed to have greater penetration into the operations of the criminal underworld if they are to meet this desperate challenge effectively. We recalled that the success achieved by former Police Commissioner, the late Randolph Burroughs, in squashing the criminal threat was due largely to the continuing intelligence he obtained from a network of informers and underworld characters. But Burroughs was always a “mixer” and the criminal contacts he had so many years ago were those he had made while emerging from the lower ranks as the nation’s “ace crime fighter.” His style and manner of operation made him one of a kind.

Now we certainly do not expect the incumbent Commissioner to be another Randolph Burroughs. What we do expect, however, is that those police officers entrusted with the battle against crime to understand the importance of intelligence and the fact that Trinidad and Tobago is too small a country for them not to have a fairly good intelligence system. Now the Government has decided to establish a special crime fighting unit largely to organise this aspect of the anti-crime initiative. According to National Security Minister Howard Chin Lee, “the objective is to build on the intelligence side of the kidnapping scourge — finding out who and where the culprits are, what we need to know and do about the people who are terrorising the community.” This objective will also extend to other major crimes such as murder and drug trafficking.

We can only welcome the formation of this special unit which, we expect, would remove one of the weaknesses in the overall arsenal of the Police Service. We expect that Brigadier Peter Joseph will appreciate the importance of his assignment in setting up this “unit of professionals.” In launching his Government’s “war against the criminals,” Mr Manning announced a number of other measures that would strengthen the capacity and role of the service. Taken together, these measures amount to a more forceful, better equipped and technologically advanced onslaught on the crime problem and one that should inspire the Service to a renewed effort to deal with the criminals and relieve the society of the fear and anxiety this scourge has created. Police patrols in main business and residential areas will be increased and the size of the Service will be expanded to facilitate higher levels of foot patrols.

The Coast Guard will acquire two new fast patrol vessels capable of launching fast interceptor boats and a helicopter with an attack capability. These, in conjunction with an ultra-modern radar system will give “Trinidad and Tobago an unprecedented level of protection and capability.” To implement stricter anti-crime laws, the Government hopes to get the support of the Opposition for legislation that would increase the penalties for fraud, kidnapping, crimes committed with the use of firearms, extortion, blackmail and illegally assessing bank account information. In addition, a Special Security Commission is to be set up as a think tank on crime prevention and detection. One expects that this body will take the widest possible view of the subject, looking to incorporate the most effective aspects of systems employed in other cities and countries. Fighting crime is a worldwide business, tackled in a variety of professional ways and methods. There may be much we can learn from others waging the same battle.