CoP: 'Human intelligence' needed to fight crime

The crime detection rate will only increase if human intelligence ("humint") is provided to the police by the citizenry.Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith said during a police town meeting at the Couva South constituency auditorium, Camden Road, Couva on Wednesday evening: “I am here to get information from you… what we want is something called humint – that, is human intelligence.“What we would see internationally (is that) a detection rate is very high primarily because of the support you get from the public. But what we see is all of these robberies and no one sees anything. These incidents take place and no one makes any comment.

"We have Crime Stoppers, and other institutions that are there, because I know there is that element and perception of reprisals, but if we do not get information, how can we really solve crime, unless we get deep into the technology?”Griffith also told the large audience (which he said was the largest to attend a police town meeting since the initiative was launched) about a phenomenon known as the “migration of crime.”“What I have noticed, especially in communities from central and southern, on most occasions there will be persons who would have migrated into your community that would be involved in these criminal activities. Those are the individuals I would want, those are the individuals that we need to find.

That is what you call the migration of crime from certain areas into others.”But he said the central division is currently experiencing a decrease in criminal activity and cited the homicide rate, saying this has fallen by approximately 40 per cent, having recorded 28 homicides for 2019 as compared to 52 for the corresponding period last year.“We have a long way to go," he said. "Sexual offences and other serious crimes are on the decrease…but it is not something that can turn around overnight. However, there is a lot more we can do and should do.”

Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh, in his remarks, said a “sense of fear is creeping into the law-abiding people” of the constituency, as a number of robberies had taken place over the past few weeks.He said the issue of joint army/police patrols had been raised in Parliament, and the Prime Minister had reportedly said the patrols had been taking place throughout the country, including Couva South, since 2016.“The Prime Minister gave a commitment that army/ police patrols were taking place in this constituency since the 17th of June or prior to the 17th of June 2016," he said. "You all live in the constituency, you could tell the Commissioner of Police whether any joint police army patrols are taking place in this constituency.”The audience responded with a resounding “no.”The main complaints from residents included the slow response time to trouble calls and the upsurge of robberies.