An­na-Lisa Paul

Se­nior Re­porter

an­na-lisa.paul@guardian.co.tt

Deputy Com­mis­sion­er of Po­lice in charge of Op­er­a­tions, Suzette Mar­tin, says there will be an in­crease in foot and mo­bile pa­trols for the up­com­ing Christ­mas and Car­ni­val pe­ri­ods, with em­pha­sis on high­ly pop­u­lat­ed ar­eas.

“As we move to­wards Car­ni­val 2026, plan­ning has al­ready be­gun,” she said.

Mar­tin, who was named the Gold Com­man­der for the two high-pro­file sea­sons, said plans on how the po­lice would re­spond have al­ready been made.

“The TTPS re­mains ful­ly com­mit­ted to en­sur­ing the safe­ty of cit­i­zens and vis­i­tors un­der the cur­rent SoE.”

Seat­ed along­side Po­lice Com­mis­sion­er Al­lis­ter Gue­var­ro dur­ing a me­dia brief­ing at the Po­lice Ad­min­is­tra­tion Build­ing, Port-of-Spain, on Tues­day, she ac­knowl­edged that pub­lic gath­er­ings of­ten lent them­selves to an in­crease in the po­ten­tial for crim­i­nal ac­tiv­i­ty.

But she quick­ly in­di­cat­ed, “Our op­er­a­tions will fo­cus on pre­ven­ta­tive vis­i­bil­i­ty, rapid re­sponse, and in­tel­li­gence-led polic­ing to en­sure the fes­tive sea­son re­mains safe and en­joy­able for every­one.”

She shared, “Our strat­e­gy is based on three pil­lars: high-vis­i­bil­i­ty polic­ing, tar­get­ed in­tel­li­gence-led op­er­a­tions, and com­mu­ni­ty part­ner­ship and pub­lic safe­ty.” Mar­tin claimed the TTPS would be in­creas­ing foot and mo­bile pa­trols in com­mer­cial dis­tricts, trans­port ar­eas, en­ter­tain­ment zones, and res­i­den­tial ar­eas.

“Our tac­ti­cal unit high­way pa­trols and di­vi­sion­al teams are con­duct­ing joint ex­er­cis­es aimed at de­ter­ring crime, im­prov­ing traf­fic man­age­ment, and en­sur­ing a safe en­vi­ron­ment for all,” she stat­ed, adding, “These op­er­a­tions are be­ing co­or­di­nat­ed to al­low us to mon­i­tor de­ploy­ment and per­for­mance in re­al time.”

The TTPS will al­so be work­ing with the T&T De­fence Force, the Mu­nic­i­pal Po­lice, and oth­er stake­hold­ers to pro­vide seam­less cov­er­age through­out the coun­try.

En­cour­ag­ing cit­i­zens to re­main alert, she urged them to safe­guard their per­son­al be­long­ings, avoid large cash trans­ac­tions, and co­op­er­ate with of­fi­cers.

“We are al­so ask­ing busi­ness own­ers and event pro­mot­ers to li­aise close­ly with their lo­cal po­lice sta­tion to fa­cil­i­tate crowd con­trol and traf­fic man­age­ment,” she said.

“The TTPS will work with the Na­tion­al Car­ni­val Com­mis­sion, band lead­ers, and event or­gan­is­ers to en­sure safe and well-man­aged fes­tiv­i­ties. Spe­cial at­ten­tion will be giv­en to ma­jor events, fete se­cu­ri­ty, traf­fic flows, and oth­er pub­lic or­der man­age­ment.

“Our mes­sage is clear. We are present, pre­pared, and proac­tive. With your co­op­er­a­tion, we can en­sure that the Christ­mas and Car­ni­val sea­sons re­main peace­ful and safe for all.”