Tobago ACP calls for stiffer penalties for guns, ammo

HEAD of the Tobago Division ACP Collis Hazel says he would like to see stiffer penalties for those convicted of firearms and ammunition offences.

He was responding to the view that an aggressive, more hands-on approach was needed to tackle the crime situation on the island.

Chief Secretary Farley Augustine said at a recent function that the time for talk was over and that more action was required to stem the scourge.

Tobago has to date recorded 19 murders for 2024, most of which the police believe are gang-related.

Hazel, in a television interview on August 15, said the police had employed several strategies to address the island’s worsening crime situation.

But he said officers are challenged by several factors, including the court system, in getting the desired results.

“In this instance, one has to consider some of the circumstances...which we are working with. I would not sit here and not say to you that our new system of the court is running smoothly for our officers. And that is one that I hope we will soon get accustomed to be able to get quicker response in that area,” Hazel said.

“So what we were accustomed to in the past certainly is not happening now, where we were using the situation of the Justice of the Peace. It is now a Master of the Court, and therefore, it takes time and it is a different process.”

He said while some people may be looking for quicker results, they must also know that crime-fighting requires a multipronged approach with input from various agencies.

“So while we could be outside there bringing perpetrators to justice, we are not responsible for giving them small sentences at the court and sending them back out to recidivism and let it start all over again.”

Hazel used crimes involving young people as an example.

“We are the ones who go out there and execute our functions in warning and arresting. They (young people) are taken to the court and they are given these small custodial sentences, in some instances, sometimes a warning, sometimes an opportunity to just go and focus their attention as it relates to being supervised.

“And who do you think is responsible for the supervising? They are sent right back to the Police Youth club in order for the police to deal with them.

“We are arresting them, putting them before the court and they are sent right back to us in order to supervise and remediate their level of social dysfunction. These are some of the areas that the TTPS has to deal with from time to time.

“So I will like to see stiffer penalties in order to treat with them. But the Judiciary has to do their work. I can’t tell them how to do their work, but certainly we need to be able to see stiffer penalties coming in some of these matters, especially involving firearms and ammunition.”

Reflecting on Tobago’s crime situation, Hazel reiterated that the majority of the murders were caused by gang violence.

“We have had crime displacement, moving from one area to the other, and not leaving out the fact that we have had home-grown criminals in the Tobago space.”

He said of the 14 murders recorded in 2023, only about 40 per cent have reached the court.

“Once the matter reaches the court, that is the matter of the Judiciary in its process. None of those matters of murder have been brought to some level of closure in terms of conviction.

“We would be happy if we could see those coming to a quick closure so that it would become a deterrent. But that is for another place at another time.” Hazel said crime displacement is one of the major challenges confronting the Tobago Division.

“We have had and we have seen persons from different gangs coming and forming groups on the island of Tobago and infiltrating the young ones, schoolchildren being involved in gangs.”

Urging young people to avoid “housing and loving up” gang members, he said Tobago, over time, has also developed its own home-grown gangs.

“So some of these criminals who are convicted within the walls continue to see the idea of recidivism and the involvement of gangs. They learn new strategies in the jail and are able to come out and reinforce them.”

Hazel said the police was also challenged by the “free trade of guns coming in via the port and what I will call unsecured areas.”

He said, “Within TT, there is literally no borders. One has to understand that. It is easy as someone wanting to buy a washing machine in PriceSmart and putting it on a pirogue and decide that that is their mode of transport to bring it to Tobago. It is a lawful purchase, and at the end of the day, they can pass anywhere in order to get it to Tobago.

“The same thing can happen with drugs. It is just that the drugs will be illegal.

“These are things we are fighting against in order to treat with and protect these open watercourses in order to treat with such situations.”