Top cop hails Ajamu

Delivering the keynote address at a Beyond Borders Conference and Workshop in the Hilton Trinidad, St Ann’s Williams said he was deeply moved by Crosby’s achievement - which was reported exclusively in last Friday’s Newsday - noting that the young man did not allow himself to be stereotyped because of the area in which he lived.

Addressing a gathering which included Rose Foundation chairman Sterling Belgrove, manager, Corporate & External Affairs, bpTT Ronda Francis and some 53 Laventille activists, Williams said: “Reading the story in the newspaper really touched my heart to know that individuals can truly recognise that they can really achieve in life if they do not restrict themselves by way of mental borders.

“And, maybe, we have to place more emphasis relieving ourselves of those mental borders for us to move at a faster pace towards the development of Laventille,” he added. Reflecting on the Beyond Borders initiative, Williams noted these were artificial restrictions imposed on the 53 communities in Laventille by the criminal element.

However, he said borders can also be viewed in a mental context, which Crosby has debunked with his outstanding achievement.

“I might be wrong and I might be right but borders can, in fact, be looked at beyond the issue of physical borders and looked at in the context of mental borders with society imposing, through labelling, restrictions on the people of the community,” said Williams.

Crosby, 18, a former student of Hillview College, Tunapuna, withstood the odds of growing up in a depressed community to secure an Additional Scholarship in Natural Sciences in this year’s Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE). Prior to Hillview, he attended Tunapuna Government Secondary School where he wrote the Caribbean Secondary Entrance Certificate exams.

Williams, currently on vacation leave, yesterday praised Crosby’s mother Juliana Crosby-Oladele for her efforts in raising her children within the troubled and stigmatised community, Williams regarded the teenager’s story as an “inspirational piece” for the people of Laventille and its environs.

The acting top cop said contemporary policing must now embrace the entire community, particularly the young people “to stop the continuous flow of criminal minds.” “It is hard work but it is the investment that we have to put in to make the difference for society. It takes each and every one of us to invest in making Trinidad and Tobago a better place,” he said.

During his address, Williams also revealed the Port-of-Spain Police Division, which has long held the reputation for the most violent crime in Trinidad and Tobago, now ranked fourth in the country.

“In comparison with other locations, historically Port-of-Spain Division, from which I say Laventille has contributed the majority of violent crimes, has stood out as the number one violent crime division in Trinidad and Tobago for all of the previous years. In 2016, Portof- Spain Division is fourth,” he said. Williams did not identify the division which now had the most violent crime in the country.

He attributed the decline in the Port-of-Spain Division’s standing to the socio-economic interventions embarked upon by the Police Service, Rose Foundation, Inter-Agency Task Force and the Hearts and Minds Foundation within Laventille and its environs over the years. Williams revealed that in October 2014, the Port-of- Spain Division, in which Laventille has been a major contributor to violent crime, recorded 70 murders while 73 murders were committed within the Division, over the corresponding period, in 2015.

This year, Williams said, the division recorded just 48 murders.

“Twenty-five murders less,” he said, amid loud applause.