Senior Reporter
anna-lisa.paul@guardian.co.tt
Police in the North Central Division are adopting zero tolerance to criminals looking to make a quick dollar by extorting business owners and residents.
That was the warning from division head Snr Sup Richard Smith who advised citizens to report anyone who demanded money by menace. He said the police have been successful in arresting people engaged in such activities.
Smith, who spoke at a town hall meeting in the St Joseph Police Station District, said: “Some persons have been charged and are before the court for these types of offences but we cannot deal with them if we do not know about them.”
He said in some instances victims either pay up or close down their businesses rather than report the crime.
Noting a recent increase in such reports in the jurisdiction, Smith appealed to the citizens in the packed Curepe Community Centre to come forward and report such threats received.
Even as that advice was being communicated to the residents at the three-hour meeting, a St Augustine woman received a call from a man demanding money and threatening to hurt her family.
The 47-year-old woman, of Orange Grove Trace, told police she was at home when her cellphone rang at 8.02 pm and the male caller demanded $120,000.
The woman received a second call at 9.22 pm from someone who urged her to pay the money. Fearing they would carry out threats to hurt her family members, the woman reported the matter to police.
Smith said crime is influenced by what is happening in homes, schools, religious institutions and social organisations.
“When everything fails, then they arrive at the TTPS door,” he said.
He said in living up to the motto to protect and serve, police officers have to arrest and charge persons.
“Some of the social organisations failing as well so we have to pick up the slack,” he said.
“We need to understand that the root cause is not the police cause … we are the end result of all the failure in society and we have to deal with it accordingly.”
Police going after
parents of truants
On the issue of truancy, Smith said: “Parents are not sending their children to school. They are all over the place playing the fool.”
He warned: “We going and start to charge the parents.”
As residents applauded Smith added: “It’s an investigation we will do. We will be checking on you. We will be making sure that the children are going to school. We will be gathering the evidence and we going and charge them.”
He said in the UK negligent parents are being fined £2,500 when they appear before the courts.
“The Resistance Gangs is young boys whose parents could still control but you know who they want to control them? We! We will do it you know, but you mightn’t like how we deal with it in all instances because they will end up before the court,” he said.
“We not supposed to be parenting people’s children. We have our own. Parents supposed to parent their children Let’s do that.”
Smith said parents, schools and churches need to accept their failures.
“Don’t just throw it on the police,” he urged.