Police, licensing hold roadblocks across Tobago

AS POLICE and licensing officers held roadblocks across Tobago on July 29, Sen Supt Rodhill Kirk called on the public to bear with the inconvenience so law enforcement can make Tobago safer.

Scores of commuters were held up for hours as police randomly checked vehicles for drugs, guns and ammunition.

Licensing officers were also doing checks at strategic points throughout the island, issuing tickets for violations.

Kirk said some may see steps taken to deal with this issue as an inconvenience, but the police should be given a chance.

“Let us do what we’re paid to do. This is what you’ve been calling upon us to do all the time.”

He added: “There is no Tobago police and Trinidad police. We have the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. So at times officers from Trinidad will be in the space and likewise, so it is not to say we distinguish it. They are here to support us and we will give them the support that they need.

"There is one aim – that is, to eradicate crime and criminality.”

Speaking on the presence of licensing and police officers across the island during an interview on the Tobago Updates morning show on July 29, police road safety co-ordinator Brent Batson said it was a joint exercise between the TTPS and the Licensing Authority, and they were focused on doing their job, law enforcement.

These joint actions were noticeable at Auchenskeoch Junction.

“The TTPS does not legislate. Our job is to enforce the laws on the roads. When it comes to the use of the roads, for you to operate that vehicle on the black carpets, you have to comply with certain regulative requirements. Our job is to go out there and make sure everybody is complying with those regulations.

He said the police agreed times were hard and tickets were expensive, but the public was given warnings, and, he added, “There are certain things that we cannot let slide.”

Kirk, asked whether these initiatives were working in the fight against crime, said yes.

“You may not see it on a larger scale in Tobago where firearms are recovered. When you look in Trinidad, as has happened over the week and over the weekend, several firearms and ammunitions were retrieved during these road exercises. I’m saying its not geared to, as people say, making money – no.”

Criminals, he said move from point A to B, not using a plane or helicopter, but moving on foot or some mode of transport.

“Whilst in fact the traffic enforcement officers are doing their thing, I am seeing quite a lot of firearms being recovered by persons who are doing road-traffic exercises.”

This was thanks to searches in which firearms and ammunitions were found.

“If you look at recent shootings in Tobago, a vehicle was used...to get away and when you look at the calibre of weapons, they are high-powered weapons, and nobody not walking the streets just like that with a high-powered weapon. They have a vehicle that they’re moving in.”

In an update on the crime situation, Kirk said the victim of the shooting in Scarborough on July 26, Ezra Sylvester, has been reported as stable.

“Thank God the police were out on patrol in that area at the point in time. They were able to respond quickly, and I know that based on the investigation so far...an arrest is imminent.”

Sylvester was shot in the neck at Gardenside, Scarborough and remains warded at the Scarborough General Hospital. Police are said to be pursuing two suspects.

In an unrelated incident, one gun has been found in the past week.

“Our officers, through intelligence-led policing, have retrieved one pistol and five rounds of ammunition during the week.

“What we recognise is that the person of interest...is out on bail for a capital offence, and these are some of the things that we notice. It is a trend that most of our problems are caused by our repeat offenders, so our police are strategically targeting our priority offenders and you are going to see, going forward, we are not going to relent, we are not going to ease up.”

He said especially in and around Scarborough there were people purporting to run businesses,

“But they are doing illegal things.

“We have already started to treat with it, but we are going to seek assistance from the public health and all of that in treating with the illegal vending and persons who congregate in these hot spots in Scarborough.”