More patrols promised as Rose Hill RC set to reopen on Wednesday

A week after a volley of gunfire prompted students and staff at the Rose Hill RC Primary School, east Port of Spain, to take cover, Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds and acting Police Commissioner McDonald Jacob visited the school and announced measures in place to better secure the community.

Last Monday gunmen from Argyle Street, Gonzales and Richardson Lane, Laventille, shot at each other nearby as students and teachers ducked for cover.

A video shared on WhatsApp on Wednesday showed a teacher urging the students to be quiet and take cover as the gunfight continued.

Since the shooting, the school has remained closed and virtual classes were introduced. The school is expected to resume in-person classes on Wednesday.

Hinds, DCP Erla Christopher and Col Ashook Singh of the defence force visited the area and spoke with school administrators and residents.

On Monday Hinds, Jacob, Port of Spain South MP Keith Scotland and other senior officers from the police and defence force visited the school, where they outlined several strategies to quell further gunplay.

Jacob said areas of east Port of Spain, Laventille and Beetham were usually patrolled and secured by members of the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF), a unit made up of police officers and soldiers.

He said operational plans have been modified to allow for better coverage by the police, which include dividing one patrol zone into two.

"We have 12 patrol zones existing in the Laventille area, where we maintain patrols in those 12 zones. It is done so the patrols can be done in a tactical and organised manner.

"This area here covers one of the zones of patrol for the Inter Agency Task Force.

"Because of the situation that occurred, and the incidents of violent crime, we have decided to divide this one zone into two, meaning to say it will be a smaller geographical area, (which) will ensure that we can in fact increase our presence in the area.

"So the same sort of resources that was provided for that larger zone will still be provided."

In addition to regular foot and mobile patrols, Jacob said police officers assigned to patrol the areas will also be required to make school visits and speak with security guards and the school principal.

He said these visits will be dated and recorded to ensure they are completed and stressed that the strategies would work to support the work of searches and intelligence-gathering exercises to root out criminals.

"We continue with our tactical aspect as we do our intelligence-gathering, where we will have what we call surgical strikes as we collaborate with the defence force when we profile individuals and we have information of people involved in criminal activities and who may be the people who have possession of these firearms that we are referring to."

Referring to his visit to the school last Thursday, Hinds said while he heard the suggestions of the residents for a permanent police post in the community, it might not be practical, given the available police resources.

Hinds said while there may have been some concern among teachers and parents of students at the school over returning to in-person classes, they felt more assured after being told of the new strategies in place.

"I was in communication with the archbishop and that in my communication with law enforcement and the actions that Mr Jacob and the colonel have described that they have taken, the teachers are now at the place where, they as expressed through the lips of the archbishop, (they) feel a lot better about our intervention...to the extent that a decision has been taken that the children will resume classes on Wednesday.

"So the confidence issue was quite justified, the lack of confidence, the fear, the trauma, quite justified. But in light of the immediate response of law enforcement in the way the commissioner described it, that has brought enough confidence to the administration of the school, the teachers, the students, the parents."

Scotland said he anticipated the reopening of the school on Wednesday. He said students preparing for the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exam needed in-person classes, adding that the safety of staff and students was a major priority.