Cops say manpower lacking as parents want better presence at Holy Faith

Concerned for their children's safety, parents of students at Holy Faith Convent in Couva are calling for a consistent police presence during school dismissal. However, community police in the district say a lack of manpower is their biggest challenge.

The concern follows an incident where a 15-year-old form-four student of the school was attacked just outside the school's compound on June 10.

Newsday spoke to Assistant Commissioner of Police (CoP) Wayne Mystar on June 11 who said no arrests had been made, but the police were working to find those responsible.

"We are putting together all our protocols first. We recorded statements from witnesses and we received the medical on behalf of the victim."

Newsday visited Holy Faith Convent in Couva on June 11 – an hour before school was dismissed.

Newsday interviewed parents and nearby business owners who all spoke on the condition of anonymity.

One parent of a form-four student at the school (not the girl who was assaulted) shared his account of the events leading up to the incident with Newsday, explaining how he believed it could have been prevented.

He said when school was dismissed at 2.20 pm he noticed girls at Holy Faith Convent being "overly hysterical."

He then saw the road being filled with students from a nearby school.

The schools near to Holy Faith Convent are Couva East Secondary and Couva West Secondary.

"The whole street was just getting chaotic," the man said. "A police land cruiser was passing and I stopped them and told them that a possible fight was going to start."

He said the police put on their sirens and the crowd that had formed in the street, disappeared temporarily.

He said he left when that took place.

Another parent who was also there confirmed that account and said when the police left – a minute or two after putting on their siren – the incident took place.

The first parent said the police could have handled the situation differently.

"The police was told something was about to happen and they should have made a call to Couva Police Station. This didn't have to escalate like that."

The Couva Police Station is less than 100 metres away from Holy Faith Convent.

Opposite from the school's compound are four businesses, including a Chinese restaurant which the man described as the nearby school's "warzone."

"If I don't get parking across the street from the school, I park by the Chinese restaurant and I am afraid.

"On a regular basis the nearby school children always want to fight."

A business owner said earlier this year, there was a major altercation between two boys from that specific nearby school.

The parent said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar was correct in her statement made at a post-Cabinet media briefing on June 5.

She had said children who assaulted or delivered beatings to others in school would be expelled, face criminal charges and be forced to enrol in the Military-Led Academic Training (Milat) programme.

"You can't have children behaving like criminals," the man said.

"They are breeding criminals and you have to cut it off from the root."

Other parents said the incident was both traumatising and shocking. Some could not believe the reactive approach from the police.

"This morning two police officers outside the school, this evening two come again. Where they was yesterday?"

The parents said while they parked near to Holy Faith Convent, they would now walk to the gate to collect their children.

Parents called on the police to permanently have officers stationed at the school during dismissal.

"You see today how calm those students from the nearby school are? They are very calm as compared to how they usually are."

Newsday saw the two police officers stationed at Holy Faith Convent maintaining order by ushering Couva West Secondary students to move along, as they got near Holy Faith's compound.

Police: We are trying our best

Mystar said police were currently working with school officials to increase the security capacity of the schools.

The community police officer who was at Holy Faith Convent on June 11 told Newsday they were at Isaac junction in Couva when the incident on June 10 took place.

"We cannot be everywhere at once because we do not have the numbers to support that. There are 28 schools in the Couva district and two in the Gran Couva district.

"It is impossible for the numbers we have to be at every school during dismissal. We are trying our best with the resources that we have."

Newsday tried to get an accurate number of the community police strength within the district but was unsuccessful.

Newsday contacted acting CoP Junior Benjamin by telephone on June 11 who explained how the community police were deployed.

"Every division has community police officers. Exactly how much is based on the division and their needs.

"It varies based on evidence-led policing. If a school doesn't have problems, it might not be necessary to have a police officer at every school. We look at schools who are troubled schools and pay particular attention to them."

When told of the community police complaint of the lack of manpower in the district, Benjamin sympathised.

"The strength is never great as people have various roles and taking to account the shifts that are there. It is never a large number."

He said the divisional commanders were responsible for these issues.

Newsday also contacted the mother of the 15-year-old girl who was assaulted on June 10 and asked for an update on her condition.

She said she had been discharged from hospital around lunch time on June 11 and all tests showed no "significant injuries."

"She has some trauma to her eyes and the hospital is monitoring it. She has to go to a clinic to get it further checked on June 14. Her eyes are bloodshot and they don't know if there will be lasting damage. She just trying to recover right now."