Port of Spain City Police head calls for building to house officers

Head of the Port of Spain City Police Supt Glenn Charles is asking for a new building to accommodate his officers adequately.

Charles made the call at the Port of Spain City Corporation's last statutory meeting for the year at City Hall, Knox Street, on Friday.

The city police headquarters is on the ground floor of City Hall and consists of offices, a charge room and holding cells.

Charles said this was not enough to accommodate all the officers and activities of the city police properly and their job was difficult enough without having to deal with poor working conditions.

"We do our jobs without expecting any thanks, but I want to note that since 2013 we have been lobbying for a building. We're now in 2021, and the conditions downstairs is really upsetting.

"Officers leave their homes in a healthy environment to come to work like this. We need to find more tangible ways to show our police officers that we care.

"I am the head of the department, but how long will I stay coaxing them and try to motivate them? We have a dormitary there and we see mould on the wall, the ceiling is leaking – and I can go on."

Charles said it was especially disheartening for new officers who were still on probation, and called on the corporation to work with other agencies to find a suitable building.

Newsday spoke with Port of Spain mayor Joel Martinez, who said the corporation was working with ministries to find a building for the city police. He said the size of the city police had grown considerably over the past few years and the space on the ground floor was not large enough.

"They have been having a difficult time in that little space for a very long time, and we have a lot of empty buildings in and around the city.

"I know the government is working on it, but I would like to urge them to maybe move a little faster so we can in short time have accommodation for our officers.

"The municipal police cadre in Port of Spain has grown threefold. They are currently using our auditorium, which we allowed them to use, but it's really not the right place for them. And we will need to get the auditorium, because we have a lot of cultural events we would like to have going on in the city."