Hinds: Some security guards commit crime

SOME security guards engage in crime and so the profession must be regulated by new laws, alleged Minister in the Office of the Attorney General Fitzgerald Hinds.

In a ministerial statement on Monday in the House of Representatives he promised to soon bring the Private Security Industry Bill 2019.

He said the country had 268 companies with some 50,000 security personnel, greatly exceeding the country’s 17,000 official law enforcement officers.

“The current unmanaged and unregulated state of the private security industry has in a perverse way, even contributed to the growing crime rate in TT, given that there are serious issues of poor or non-existent vetting, of the untrained, the ill-equipped, often unsupervised persons, some of whom may have criminal backgrounds, and are paid, purportedly to protect our citizens and their property!”

Hinds alleged that some use their access to perpetrate and instigate serious crimes.

“Yet there is no effective legislation in place, which legislation should, among other things, set standards for and supervise the industry.”

He listed proposals in the new legislation.

These included licensing the security firms, creating sanctions for them, certifying security guards, establishing standards for their training, and establishing minimum pay rates and mandatory pension and health care schemes. He also wanted to establish an authority to oversee all firms with powers akin to that of the Commissioner of Police.

Hoping to bring a level of professionalism and efficiency to security guards, so as to reduce citizens vulnerability to criminals and violent, Hinds said, “It means more eyes, more legs, hands and resources brought to bear.”