ACT NOW ON CAR TINTS

The Police and Licensing officers must act swiftly against motorists who drive vehicles with heavily tinted glass. Apart from being in contravention of the law, the heavy tint conveniently masks the identities of ill intentioned individuals in these vehicles, many of which (the vehicles) are increasingly being used in the commission of major crimes.

In almost every kidnapping or other serious crime, including murder, in which vehicles have been used, they have had heavily tinted glass which made it impossible for persons to see inside of them and be in a position to identify the criminals. But for any action by the Police and/or Licensing officers against offending vehicles to be effective it will have to be conducted on a continuous basis until all vehicles with illegal tints are made to have them within the limits laid down by the Licensing Department. Such action should not be the all too brief public relations exercise to which the country was treated a short while ago. Then Licensing and/or Police officers briefly hauled cars off the road and ordered drivers to strip the tints from their vehicles’ windshields et cetera, all of this for the benefit of newspaper and television cameras from alerted media houses.

It was game playing meant to convey the impression that the authorities were clamping down on offenders, and just as quickly as it had started, it ended.   Meanwhile, media reports of many of the kidnappings and other major crimes committed before, during and since the PR exercise have pointedly referred to the cars used in the lawless acts as having heavily tinted glass. The Licensing Department officers and Police officers must be just as aware as the general public, or even moreso, of this blatant disregard of the law by the criminals. Interestingly, motorists driving cars with tinted glass are no longer pulled aside and ordered to comply with the law.

Already 2003, with the year still having another three weeks to run, has seen a record number of Trinidadians and Tobagonians kidnapped and/or murdered. Meanwhile, the Trinidad and Tobago public has been treated to a series of well publicised plans this year by the Protective Services to deal with crime in the country, from the “lockdown” in Laventille in North Trinidad to last week’s instituting of joint Police/Army patrols in San Fernando in the South.  Yet a measure, that of seriously cracking down on vehicles with tinted glass that (the heavy tint) allows criminals to stake out areas and wait around for persons they plan to kidnap or murder, without being able to be identified, has been largely ignored.

Admittedly, the mere removal of the tinted material will not stop kidnappings and other major crimes, but it may act as a deterrent in some cases and may make it easier as well to identify the bandits. The Licensing authorities can assist not only with being more vigilant and stopping offending vehicles on the road and ordering the removal of tints, but by treating with those that come up for inspection. What has been lacking and needs to be addressed is the question of initiative. Anything that can possibly assist in reducing the horrific crime levels should be looked at seriously.