XTra Foods donates $100,000 to TTPS

In an effort to help cover the costs of various outreach programmes, community initiatives and support services for officers, supermarket chain XTra Foods has donated $100,000 to the Police Service.

Speaking at a handing-over ceremony at the police administration building yesterday at Sackville Street, Port of Spain, Commissioner Gary Griffith thanked XTra Foods general manager Farook Nabbie and marketing manager Daniel Austin for their assistance and expressed confidence that the donation would go a long way towards funding projects and programmes to deter crime.

"I appreciate what is being done and it shows the public working hand in hand with the police service is a win-win situation.

"You will see the transformation over the past few months is not just about operations. As I mentioned, we intend to have a unit to deal with school violence, a unit to deal specifically with domestic violence, one to deal with cruelty to animals, and improvements to the victim and witness support unit and others, besides just hard policing."

President of the Police Service Social Welfare Association Insp Michael Seales also thanked XTra Foods' managers and said the donation would provide some aid to officers in need.

Asked how the money donated would be distributed, patron of the Police Wives' Association Nicole Dyer-Griffith said it would be distributed among various units and associations to help both those in service and civilians.

"The money will be split, with food vouchers and actual money that will be given for the TTPS. Part will go for the hosting of the Converge event in Tobago; food vouchers will be going towards the Victim and Witness Support Unit, because, based on the work they do, they would require assistance on the cases they work on.

"Part would go towards the I Support Our Service (ISOS) Civics in Schools campaign, once it is approved by the Ministry of Education. Another part in food vouchers will also go towards the TT Police Service Social Welfare Association, because they interact directly with officers who require this support."

Dyer-Griffith also said food vouchers will also go towards the police Caught in the Act Campaign, which seeks to reward law-abiding citizens caught in the act of obeying the law.