Criminals beware
(Trinidad Express) Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has announced new strategies in the fight against crime, including the downsizing and revamping of the Special Anti-Crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (SAUTT) and the use of technology to hunt criminals.
A tough-talking Persad-Bissessar made the disclosure at midnight Thursday in her contribution to the 2010/2011 budget debate in Parliament.
Persad-Bissessar said SAUTT, under the management of the former administration, had failed to make a dent in crime.
“This Government can see that there is some value in SAUTT but it needs to be totally restructured because it’s a powerful tool that can be used to reduce crime, but has failed to deliver based on improper utilisation of resources,” Persad-Bissessar said.
“We will restructure the unit and downsize it to focus on two core functions. Right now it is all over the place, including tapping my cell phone, I understand, and yours.”
She said SAUTT will be converted to a central intelligence unit and a national training academy. With this move, the human resource of the Police Service will be boosted, she said.
Persad-Bissessar said the Central Intelligence Unit will focus on gathering information on countering terrorism and other major criminal activities that affect the security of the nation and gather evidence to combat criminals.
“I am advised that there are several intelligences in this one small twin island republic, which keep the information secret and they do not work with each other. We propose that SAUTT will become the central point to have all the intelligence accumulated upon which the appropriate operational plan will be implemented,” she said.
She said SAUTT officers will be given the option to be reinstated in the Police Service or Defence Force. She said SAUTT’s training academy will now not only focus on military training but ensure every law enforcement officer is trained in every aspect. The academy will have intakes from the Regi-ment, Coast Guard, Police Service, Prison Service, Fire Service and private security firms, she said.
Persad-Bissessar added that all officers who carry firearms will be required to undergo psychological evaluation and polygraph testing will be part of the recruitment process. National Security Minister Brigadier John Sandy has also been mandated to liaise with the new leadership of the Police Service to develop strategies to use the Internet in the fight against crime, she said.
“It is our intention to bring information about criminals and criminal activities direct to you, wherever you are in the online world. A police presence will therefore be created on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, MSN, Twitter and Itunes,” she said. She said an email alert service, syndicated news feeds and a series of podcasts and widgets will also be used to keep citizens informed on criminal activities and fugitives. Virtual billboards with mugshots of fugitives will also be utilised.
Persad-Bissessar said a virtual command centre will also be established as part of national security operations responsible for disseminating and receiving information.
“It is my respectful view that we are under attack by criminals and so we must launch a counter-attack, united as one nation we shall therefore bring the fight against crime into your laptops, into your cellphones, into your desktops, your Iphones and your blackberry’s and so you will have the fugitives at your finger tips,” she said.
She also knocked the PNM for criticising the salary of incoming Canadian Commis-sioner of Police Dwayne Gibbs, adding that the PNM spent $350 million a year on crime initiatives, including $100 million for 50 specially trained retired foreign officers at SAUTT, and yet crime continues to spiral.
