Cops fulfilled their duty

There were incidents of common assault and assault by battery, but the Carnival 2024 celebration was reported to be free from major incidents.

To their credit, officers continued to be deployed at locations where after-Carnival gatherings were expected, particularly at crowded beaches, continuing their peacekeeping efforts. Other work went into proactively monitoring the safety of tourists, which included 2,000 visitors who arrived on the cruise ship Jewel of the Seas, on Carnival Tuesday.

Officers signalled their intention to take Carnival seriously first via press-conference warnings and then by action, issuing 43 traffic tickets in Tobago in a pre-emptive traffic exercise on January 23, a fortnight before Carnival.

On Carnival Friday, San Fernando Mayor Kazim Hosein promised that municipal police officers would "increase their visibility" during the celebrations.

But it's likely that the most effective effort at pre-empting plans to make mischief during Carnival was the tacit agreement between police and the National Security Minister to not allow concerns about slow back pay and promotions issues to affect the police presence.

Only 57 per cent of line officers had received their back pay before Carnival week and talk of a sickout was pervasive.

On Friday, president of the Police Social and Welfare Association, ASP Gideon Dickson declared such concerns to have been "blown out of proportion."

"Police officers are by and large civic-minded and patriotic to the cause," Dickson said.

On the evidence, Mr Dickson's assessment of his colleagues was borne out by their dedication to duty on Carnival Monday and Tuesday.

Gold Commander for Carnival ACP Kelvern Thompson reported a strong police presence across the ten divisions and only minor incidents and minor crimes.

According to Mr Thompson, the police used CCTV surveillance and ground-level observation to identify known people of interest and seized several weapons before they could enter major J'Ouvert routes.

The Police Service collaborated with other arms of national security and state utilities to ensure that, for instance, uniformed T&TEC personnel were in position to manage issues with overhead wires, a frequent problem with large trucks despite clear guidelines on allowed height for road vehicles during the celebration.

But the Police Commissioner must be aware that a successful policing exercise only breeds more inventiveness among criminals and must not rest on the well-deserved laurels of this year's success.

An informed post-mortem of this year's policing exercise, noting pain points, and making recommendations for Carnival 2025, and other major public events, should be part of the after-action exercise to ensure that what worked this year continues to be effective while planning to counter future criminal efforts to subvert police control of public celebrations.