Ag Police Commissioner: Detection rate has improved

UPDATED:

Five divisions in the Police Service have surpassed the detection rate set for 2017, and acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams has described 2017 as a “very good year,” especially in the area of violent crime.

He disclosed this yesterday at the last weekly press briefing for the year at the Police Administration Building in Port of Spain.

He said there had been an overall 31 per cent detection rate in 2017, while last year the rate was 23 per cent.

“In some of the divisions we have had tremendous success,” he said. “To date the South-Western Division recorded a 60 per cent detection rate, while Eastern Division recorded a 53 per cent detection rate. Southern Division: 40 per cent detection rate. Tobago Division: 35 per cent detection rate. Western division: 32 per cent.

“Those are five divisions who would have surpassed the detection rate we would have set as the target for the police service for 2017 – we set a detection rate of 30 per cent.

However, he admitted, “We have four divisions which did not meet the target: Central Division – 26 per cent detection rate; Northern Division –25 per cent detection rate; North-Eastern Division – 22 per cent detection rate; and the lowest detection rate among all the nine divisions has been Port of Spain Division.”

Williams said the four divisions which have not met the 30 per cent bar have been encouraged to revisit how they work and seek improvement as they step into 2018.

While a detection rate has not been set for 2018, Williams said it would be be higher than 2017’s.

He said another area the police had been successful with was seizing guns throughout the nine divisions.

“We have seen increases in firearm seizure in every single division, inclusive of Tobago. As a division, that increase has been phenomenal and we have recorded 1,014 firearm seizures to date.

It is the highest annual total of firearms seizure, from my research, in the English-speaking Caribbean.

“TT recorded last year 765 firearm seizures. Officers have been out there, relentless in their pursuit to get the guns off the streets.

“The police service is a primary agency for managing matters in this land. There is a critical need for ridding the country of guns, and the police service has been on that mission for 2017 and will continue the mission in 2018,” Williams said.