Trinidad and Tobago Police Commissioner Trevor Paul admitted yesterday that the crime problem in Trinidad and Tobago was bigger than he thought, when he promised in 2004 that people would enjoy greater security in 2005.
By Richard LordPaul had made a public commitment in October 2004 at a meeting with the Joint Select Committee on Municipal Corporations and Service Commissions that "this time next year (2005) we shall have a community that feels much safer and a community and a society that would enjoy a better sense of security because we are working on reducing crime.".
Prof Ramesh Deosaran, chairman of the committee, told Paul: "Tell us what went wrong because I do not feel we are feeling as safe as we should."
But Paul was not prepared to give a detailed response yesterday.
"I would not attempt to answer it fully but I just say in passing here that probably at that time (October 2004) I did not properly assess how multi-facted the problem is," he said.
But within minutes of that statement Assistant Commissioner of Police (Operations) Winston Cooper said a new initiative has been established and it will reduce crime in the country.
ACP Cooper said the Crime and Problem Analysis Unit has been established to help reduce the incidence of crime. He said the functions of that unit are really "to address the issue of crime and what trends they are showing by utilising the whole process of intelligence gathering and intelligence driven (measures) , so it is in that context we are now looking at crime and how we address the issue."
Deosaran asked ACP Cooper if he was implying that crime will be reduced because of the new initiatives. He responded: "Surely, sir."
