Ex-ACP on Tobago crime fight: Actions speak louder than words

Former assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Tobago William Nurse is calling for a modified approach to crime-fighting on the island.

Speaking with Newsday on Wednesday, Nurse said new tactics were necessary, and the island’s current ACP needed to stop grandcharging and get down to some serious work.

He said: “Every police officer who gets up and speaks, the criminals did their background check on you already. They know who you are.

"So when you talk, if you can’t match those words with actions, it's better you shut up.

"So you have to match the words with actions. Shut up, because you are not going to make sense. They’re going to laugh at you.”

Tobago was very easy to police, he said. "It’s a small-island state (sic). And if we do the basic policing, infuse intelligence into it – good information, with robust investigation – we are on our way to solving all the problems Tobago might have.”

At the time this article was written, the murder toll for the island stood at 13, with the last three homicides taking place within a 24-hour period a week ago.

On December 19, Tobago saw its 11th murder, and on December 20, two more people were shot dead while liming outside a bar in Bon Accord. Of those 13 murders, 12 were committed with guns.

Questioned about a motive for Tobago’s 12th and 13th murder, the island's current ACP Collis Hazel told Newsday, “They are all gang-related. They were known persons to the police as being involved in gangs. Gangs are fighting for turf and for money and drugs.”

During his tenure as ACP Tobago in 2022, Nurse listed gang violence as one of his biggest challenges, saying there were 20 gangs spread across the island.

“Anybody who says there are no gangs in Tobago, they are living in a fool’s paradise. Tobago has gangs. And when I was active, I knew where the gangs were.

"What the police needs to do is to infiltrate the gangs and beat them at their own game. That is where intelligence comes in.”

Nurse said the current policing approach needed to evolve.

“Policing is the foundation. What you do, you add new facets to it, modify it. Add intelligence to their policing. They must add robust investigation, they must add education. All these things the police need to add.

"You will see, Tobago is not very hard if they do these things.

"I give them six months to do the right thing to get Tobago back.”

Policing, Nurse said, had lost its touch, with officers now more focused on rank rather than improving the foundational aspects of policing. He is urging the senior authorities to focus on developing their subordinates’ skills and knowledge.

“What I am uncertain of is if those who are in charge are doing enough.

"I make no apology for that. The seniors need to not focus on their rank but they need to focus on those whom they supervise to bring them up in terms of knowledge, skills and that is where we are falling down. We focus too much on rank and not really the future.

"Investigation is a dying art and this is where we need to focus our attention. If we do that, we won’t have so many problems in Tobago.”

This is not the first time Tobago has experienced this high murder rate, as he recalled that in 2004 the island recorded approximately 14 or 15 murders.

“At that time, we solved 50 per cent of the murders that year. In that very year, it was the first time we saw execution-style murders in Tobago, but we had a plan of action, and the police themselves in Tobago need to have a plan of action. That plan of action must be articulated by the assistant commissioner, and he must be the leader where that is concerned.”

Nurse said leadership was important in addressing the situation.

“The young officers must be developed into a culture of finding out, being inquisitive in their investigations. We also need to ensure that their operations are driven by intelligence and good investigations. In the absence of those, we’re just running.

“The senior officers must lead from in front. Get down on the ground, talk to people, hear what they’re saying.

"Tobago is a small community, and it is not hard to police. Tobagonians are very, very accommodating. They share information with the police, and it is the police must harness the goodwill of the people.

"There is a lot of goodwill for Tobago, but they must harness (it).”

Hazel is reported as saying that there is now a specialised gang unit on the island to address the worrying rise in murders and gang violence. He also promised a reduction of murders in 2024 through the efforts of this new unit.

On that, Nurse said, “That is what you call window-dressing.

"Where were these officers trained? Training is important, so you just can’t pick people and start a specialised unit. This requires training. It requires good leadership.

"So maybe Mr Hazel knows what he is talking about, he knows what he is doing, because you can’t just wake up one morning and say I am forming a specialised unit.”

Nurse said there was no way police in Tobago could be compared to their counterparts in Trinidad.

“This is Trinidad and Tobago and it is the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. What I can tell you is that when officers (come) from Trinidad, they come with an attitude of allotment that is condescending (towards)  the Tobago police.”

He said Tobago's police were one of the smallest divisions, but were compared to all of Trinidad.

“In Trinidad, you have all the support units, and the administration of the police service never thought it fit to station any of those units in Tobago. Not the Guard and Emergency Branch, not the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) – none of them.

"So the policeman you see on the street conducting traffic is the same person who calls names in the court, and is the same person who investigates the road-traffic accidents and the minor crimes, and they have to respond to the riots as well.

"Whereas in Trinidad, we have the Guard and Emergency Branch and the IATF and many task forces littered around Trinidad.

"It’s not totally fair to compare the Tobago division with police in Trinidad. There must be equitable distribution of resources in terms of material and human resources to police the island of Tobago.”