Francis: Vet new officers, include youth in crime fight

Independent Senator Helon Francis has asked for police officers to be properly vetted to ensure corrupt elements don't infiltrate the service.

He made the call during his maiden contribution to the Parliament on Monday during the budget debate.

Francis was addressing the government's intention to triple annual recruits to the police service and provide $80 million in additional funding for new vehicles and equipment in the new financial year.

During his contribution, he knocked the way political parties treated serious matters by putting "the blame wherever it is convenient...

"Crime is not the fault of any particular administration, but because of habits that we have accepted as a nation," he said.

Leading up to comments on the request for increased personnel and funding for the police, Francis said he believed the population would not object to combating crime. However, he asked for the measures to be implemented responsibly.

"Do you need 1,000 police officers? That's fine. You need more vehicles? That is fine.

"But when picking police officers, please pick the best, dedicated and educated officers and ensure our pool of officers does not come from the same corrupted pond."
He also called for officers to be equipped with "new psychological strategies" for engaging the population and body cameras for all patrol officers.

"I would commend the Minister of National Security for ordering 3,120 additional body cams for aiding in the fight against crime. I will commend him for that. It's the only way we can improve our police patrols and it will also bring comfort to the population against the claims of police brutality."

He also said TT's youth should be included in the fight.

"Use our young social scientists and specialists in fields of ballistics and forensic science. A lot of our young and brilliant minds are leaving our country because they are often under-utilised or we are not even prepared to pay them what they are worth."