Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 23/Nov 04:41

Brazen crimes of opportunity

The shocking video of the robbery of passengers and driver aboard a maxi taxi in the afternoon on November 19 was a reminder of how a quiet drive home can explode into potentially lethal violence in TT. The incident, captured on the driver's dashboard camera, is ordinary, the maxi swaying as it makes its way along the Priority Bus Route in Arouca. Until one fateful moment when the vehicle stops. Five men, crudely masked, board, shove a departing passenger aside, shouting and grabbing at purses and cash. One man, nearest the camera is clearly brandishing a knife; another might have been waving a pistol. People submissively hand over money, their bags are grabbed and searched. The driver's cash is snatched out of his hands. The passengers cower in their seats, some with hands raised. Despite the panicked resistance of one passenger, the entire incident ends in less than a minute, the final tangle interrupted after one thief urged the last robber aboard to leave. Through it all, the driver's composure is a remarkable thing. Was he robbed before? Does he board his taxi every day with a planned response to an invasion by armed thugs? Is this just another tax imposed on his working day? According to Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander, there were ten robberies on the route last year and just one this year, despite his accusation that the Transit Police Unit was allowed to "deteriorate" over the last nine years. The unit is said to be short by at least 60 officers. Brazen daytime robberies seem to be on the rise. A 28-year-old businesswoman was robbed at her Signal Hill home at gunpoint at eight in the morning on November 20 by two men. She was robbed of US$4,378, $35,000 and jewellery worth $7,000. At seven in the evening on Thursday, the PS in the Trade Ministry was also robbed at gunpoint after arriving at her home in Cascade. Four men stole whatever they could lay hands on, including a 75-inch television and her car. These aren't attacks that a stand-your-ground law will address. They are crimes of opportunity, the victims hit hard and fast, grabbing anything of value and fleeing. Between May and September, burglaries experienced a surge and general larceny surged before declining. Dwelling house larcenies are incrementally trending downward. With Christmas approaching, additional vigilance should be part of police planning. The police must mount deterrent patrols and increase officer presence in vulnerable neighbourhoods. Mr Alexander's promise to address the transit police shortfalls is a sensible start, but those officers can't just sit at a police post and wait to be called. Criminals must see them on the roads and aboard maxis, a real policing presence that promises firm response. The post Brazen crimes of opportunity appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.