ACP gives Tobago police 9/10 for Easter work

HEAD of the Tobago Division ACP Collis Hazel says no major crimes were reported on the island over the Easter weekend.

“It was relatively cool,” he told Newsday on April 3.

However, he said there was an incident in which two people were robbed in the Arnos Vale area on April 2.

Hazel said police exercises across the island led to the arrests of several people.

“Most of it was for road traffic and people with outstanding warrants and the whole idea of people involved with marijuana drug blocks – lots of exercises paying attention to those. But outside of that, we didn’t have any major incidents that I can recall.”

Asked to rate the success of policing operations, he said, “I would give it a nine out of ten.

“So we continue to thank the population for the behaviour that they executed while on the island, even though we were expecting much more persons, just like the hoteliers, but we didn’t see that influx.”

Saying the Tobago division will continue to address security issues, Hazel said the police had planned a town meeting in Crown Point for April 9.

“It will be one with a difference and will involve personnel from the Fire Services, TT Defence Force and Licensing Division, because when we go to these town meetings, there are questions of national security. But because it is a police town meeting, some of the things we can’t answer.

So I decided to bring in the fire, the army, all my other counterparts from national security to the table so that they can be more receptive to the members of the public.”

Hazel said he had held a similar meeting at the Scarborough Library some months ago

“I had done it in Scarborough and I had promised to continue it because there isn’t an avenue for members of the TTDF, Fire Service – they do not have these town meetings. And I think there are things that the public needs to hear.”

He said unlike the Police Service, the other security units do not have a dedicated public relations department.

“So sometimes we (police) are being asked questions that should be asked (of) them. Hence the reason why, in terms of my stakeholder engagement, I need to bring them out to be part of that whole team.”