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alexk
Guest
Criminals are moving out of the Couva district because of a high level of shared public and police intelligence, community police officer Cpl Peter Cumberbatch said yesterday.
Cumberbatch, who was at the launch of the T&T Police Service’s Discovery Summer Youth camp at the Couva West Secondary School, said more people are trusting the police and sharing information which has led to the arrest and incarceration of known criminals. As a result, criminals are leaving the Couva district for fear of being caught, he added.
“One of our mandates is to have people trust us. Once we can capture that public trust the information will come to us. We are getting information and we are passing it on to the relevant authorities for execution,” Cumberbatch said.
“There has been a great decrease in criminal migration into our community. In fact, more criminals are going away, so hats off to Couva police.”
He said the area’s community police have been working to prevent young people from being drawn into crime by providing opportunities and academic and extra-curricular activities to keep them occupied.
Cumberbatch commended acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams for providing transportation and lunch for 100 participants from several schools in the district.
“Mr Williams goal is that in order to stop crime we must have the youths occupied and qualified. He mandated us to work with the Three R Foundation so that any child between the ages of nine to 14 can become a member of the youth club. The camp will take place from July 9 to August 10,” he said
Cumberbatch said police officers are going into the communities, particularly those troubled by crime, and inviting young people to join the Police Youth Club.
“We recognize that children are easily influenced in doing the wrong things so the Commissioner of Police has mandated the TTPS in Couva to work together with the public. We have had meetings in Roystonia, Pranz Gardens, Claxton Bay and Preysal,” he said.
Professor Ramadheen Ramsamooj, who helped organise the summer youth camp, called for changes to T&T’s educational system.
“We must go back to the basics of reading, writing and Arithmetic. We have to get the kids from the outside, some of whom may have the tendency to do crime, to get them engaged in a fun academic way, so they will be able to do well,” he said
Professor Ramsamooj said making students proficient in academics and other positive activities keep them away from criminals.