Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 18/Feb 05:25

Brasso Police Station lessons

MORE THAN four years after the Brasso Police Station was “repurposed” as part of a nationwide police plan to transition to “21st-century policing,” Tabaquite residents have concluded the experiment has been a complete failure. They are correct. And it would now seem they are not alone in their assessment. Acting top cop Junior Benjamin’s announcement that the station will be reopened soon is a welcome acknowledgement of the need to return to the status quo. We hold him to his word. This entire affair should teach us several lessons. On November 11, 2020, the TTPS announced the shuttering of the station and said residents would instead be “serviced” by the Gran Couva Police Station. The repurposed building was initially earmarked for other agencies. Officials believed all this would “facilitate a more efficient use of resources, resulting in an increased police presence and greater investigative capacity for both districts.” “Brasso and Gran Couva residents can also expect a faster police response, improved community relations and an overall increase in public safety,” the TTPS grandly declared back then. But that was far from how things went. On February 16, 2025, several Tabaquite residents were driven to stage a protest to highlight a terrible wave of crime that has besieged the area in recent years. In that time, people were gunned down, homes broken into, limers robbed, roti shops raided, and even farmers and their crops have been targeted. There was a police-involved killing in January, but police response times did not seem to keep up. Several times, people in the community called for the reopening of the police station. Several times, officials told them the station would reopen. Several times, nothing happened. Good sense should now prevail. What the specific Tabaquite experience shows is a general truth: there is a need for consistent police coverage in the country, even in places deemed low-risk. The “hot spot” paradigm that once reflected statistical realities has long shifted. Criminals, unlike officers, have no problems getting around. Leaving some areas without a permanent police presence is like issuing an invitation to disorder. We should widen cop coverage to smoke out lawbreakers, not turn off lights. Of course, buildings alone are not the panacea for crime. It is important that all stations are also properly outfitted and equipped. The recent suggestion of the Prime Minister that cops are hiding in darkened buildings led police officers to point out how design elements like glass fronts have raised needless challenges. That a child protection unit, since closed, was plopped into the Brasso Police Station also leads us to question whether enough purposeful allocation is happening in the service. Such purposeful allocation would be real 21st-century policing. The post Brasso Police Station lessons appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.