So what might be a solution you think?

So what might be a solution you think?

Can the solution be to give the Defence Force powers of arrest, similar to that of the Police Service? Can this really address the real problems confronting us regarding out of control crime? Or are we simply pretending to know what we are doing.

We have a situation of runaway crime which has been running for over a decade now. An entire government was voted out because of their failure to address crime. However, some claim that certain things were put in place to, at some point, address this crime situation. One such things was SAUTT.

Let me state upfront that I never supported SAUTT, in the manner it was set up, just as I would not support the "new flying squad". I am also not willing to support the new plan to afford the Defence Force, powers of arrest via the The Miscellaneous Provisions (Defence and Police Complaints) Bill, 2013. But I am also convinced that some thing must be done in the short term to address the reality of men killing each other on the streets almost daily. But is this a solution?

So what might be a solution you think?

Looking back at what some of the concerns regarding SAUTT were, one stands out as the present government seek to legislate to give the Army powers of arrest, which is, SAUTT was an illegal entity, a “parallel police force” as some labelled it.

The present government whilst in opposition condemned the then government for setting up this unit, I am not going to rehash all that were said about the unit, except to say that back then I had joined a call to have legislation laid to legalise this unit. And considering the monies that were spent, it would have been the best thing to do. But on getting into office, the present government disbanded the unit citing recommendations contained in the “Ross Report”. Which according to the then MoNS, had indicted:

“There  is  considerable  overlap  in  the  collection,  analysis,  and
distribution  of  intelligence  among  the  security  agencies.    Having
SAUTT,  defence  force  intelligence,  SIA,  Special  Branch,  SSA  and
NSCS  all  involved  is  difficult  to  justify  in  a  country  as  small  as
Trinidad and Tobago.”

But today they are attempting to re-invent the wheels and legislate for soldiers to perform the duties of police officers [SAUTT 2.0?], claiming the police service is understaffed. But according to the UN, which recommends a minimum police strength of 222 per 100,000 people, we are actually two times the recommended strength at 529 as of 2012. Therefore, can the problem be numbers? lets just say it is. Then what about the Private Security Network Commission (PSNC) initiative launched back in 2010? It was said back then that this will add 20,000 additional pairs of ‘eyes and ears’, which the Police Service would have at its disposal.

20,000 Private Security Officers on Board
I wish to reiterate that companies in the Private Security Industry, whose expertise can contribute to law enforcement and national security, represent a workforce of over twenty thousand (20,000) security officers. This figure represents more than three times the existing number of police officers.  These security officers and their respective companies have previously been an underutilized resource, with the potential for greatly assisting the Police Service.

So what might be a solution you think?

Well, first you need to identify the problems. There are many problems facing law enforcement, I do not wish to list them. But one of those is key to addressing this issue of crime and that is Crime Detection. according to a Guardian article, detection rate it very low. Overall, the average detection rate of the TTPS has plummeted in recent years from a dismal 24 per cent to 14 per cent. Lets define  Crime Detection:

Crime detection falls into three distinguishable phases: the discovery that a crime has been committed, the identification of a suspect, and the collection of sufficient evidence to indict the suspect before a court.

Therefore, what can we honestly say contributes to low detection rates? Law enforcement numbers? But we have that covered. Special units specifically created with responsibilities regarding data collection? But we have that covered too.

So what might be a solution you think?

If it’s not numbers, units, fire power, what else? Then what is it? Could it be proper training targeted at crime detection? I am convinced this is where we need to look. Giving the defence force powers of arrest will solve nothing. This will only add more man power, more fire power and might I say yet anther unit sharing intelligence contrary to what the Ross Report recommended, which by the way is a recommendation as I pointed to above, the present government accepted and implemented by dismantling SAUTT and other units.

The government needs to stop the politics and seriously and honestly tackle this problem of crime. Something like giving the Army powers of arrest is not something to take likely and by no means I’m I casting any negatives on the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, I am simply expressing caution, there are too many examples throughout history to cause us to step back from this possibly dangerous move.

So what might be a solution you think?

start thinking fast yes…