CARNIVAL CONTROL

Police officers are supposed to be trained in crowd control, a crucial part of which is knowing how much force should, and should not, be used. It is not clear what so distinguished the Point Fortin protest that police felt it necessary to resort to tear gas. But perhaps of even more concern is that, in both Point Fortin and at the Licensing Fete, the police fired bullets into the air.

The use of a firearm is recognised by all advanced police organisations to be a serious matter. That is why, in those jurisdictions, whenever an officer discharges his revolver, he has to make out a report explaining all the circumstances under which he took this action. Does this practice exist in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service and, if not, why not? Some may argue that firing a gun into the air is an effective way of preventing mob situations from getting out of hand. The argument against this is that, when a bullet is fired into the air, it has to come down. Apparently, this simple law of physics does not occur to officers. But a falling bullet can also wound or even kill. And, as Deputy Commissioner Winston Cooper revealed in yesterday’s Newsday, the Police Service does not have rubber bullets amongst its crime-fighting equipment.

Now Carnival is just under four weeks away, and in that four weeks there are going to be many fetes, crowds everywhere, and thus more opportunities for criminal activities. Deputy Commissioner Winston Cooper, in the wake of the Licensing Fete fiasco, has outlined various new measures intended to ensure that this situation is not repeated. Entrances to fetes will be kept free, be well-lighted, and tickets will not be sold either at, or close to, the venues. These are all excellent ideas, and should help fete control enormously. But fete promoters must also do their part. They cannot cut corners on security and they must certainly resist the temptation to oversell tickets.

The onus, however, remains on the police officers. As every citizen is all too aware, our society is experiencing a crime wave that must be creating frayed nerves amongst officers. Added to this, the police are facing a citizenry increasingly distrustful of both the competence and the integrity of police officers.

Although it is true that, over the past few months, there has been an improvement in the arrest rate for murders and kidnappings, it is too early to tell if this represents a turning point in the battle against crime. It is certainly too early for any such improvement to have made an impression on the public mind. And so, against this background, officers now face that time of year where they have to work longer hours, and where they have to handle both ordinary citizens and criminals in the same environment.

We expect, however, that officers will maintain the discipline and efficiency which has made the last two Carnivals relatively incident-free.