An­na-Lisa Paul

Se­nior Re­porter

The Po­lice Acad­e­my, St James, came alive yes­ter­day as hun­dreds flocked to the venue to wit­ness teams from all ten polic­ing di­vi­sions vy­ing for brag­ging rights in the an­nu­al sports and fam­i­ly day.

De­spite the swel­ter­ing heat and lim­it­ed seat­ing, both young and old lined the grounds, cheer­ing as their teams marched and danced their way past the judges.

In­tend­ed to fos­ter ca­ma­raderie, Po­lice Com­mis­sion­er Al­lis­ter Gue­var­ro said the show of ath­let­ic ex­cel­lence was a tes­ta­ment to the en­dur­ing spir­it and re­silience of the T&T Po­lice Ser­vice (TTPS).

De­liv­er­ing brief re­marks fol­low­ing the march past, which saw 22 teams com­pet­ing, he said this year’s theme of Uni­ty in Ac­tion had per­fect­ly cap­tured the essence of what made sports in­clu­sive, trans­for­ma­tive and bond­ing be­yond ranks.

A to­tal of 22 teams par­tic­i­pat­ed in the march past com­pe­ti­tion, which saw the Port-of-Spain Di­vi­sion (POSD) emerg­ing as the over­all win­ner with 462 points - beat­ing last year’s cham­pi­on, the Guard and Emer­gency Branch (GEB) by one point.

The Traf­fic and High­way Pa­trol Unit came in third place, while the Po­lice Acad­e­my scooped up the fourth prize, and the Par­lia­ment Po­lice fol­lowed in fifth.

Tears flowed as it was an­nounced that the In­ter-Agency Task Force had se­cured the crown in the Queen’s com­pe­ti­tion, with Cen­tral Di­vi­sion plac­ing sec­ond; and a tie for third place be­tween the GEB and POSD left many smil­ing.

The Mount­ed and Ca­nine Unit placed fifth in this cat­e­go­ry.

The POSD al­so man­aged to run away with the prize for best flag­man, while the Com­plaints Di­vi­sion placed sec­ond, with the Traf­fic and High­way Pa­trol Unit plac­ing third.