Published: Friday, December 21, 2012
“I
want that people can just share love with each other and my vision is
for citizens to walk every part of T&T free from any form of
interference and crime.” This is the wish of acting Police Commissioner
Stephen Williams for the citizens of this country as 2013 approaches.
Williams made the disclosure when asked by reporters on Wednesday what he wanted to see in the coming year as he spoke of a reduction in violent crime in the past four months. Speaking at a promotion exercise at the Police Administration Building, Port-of-Spain, Williams said while the police service was forging ahead with its plan to make T&T safer, it was his personal wish to get to the point “where crime is not a dominant issue on the lips of every citizen.”
He said: “T&T has been struck with too much violence over the years. We need to see the disappearance of violence from our society,” the acting top officer said. “All that we can do as an organisation, we will do it, but we are beseeching citizens to think twice before they act in a violent manner.”
Williams said the police service stood ready to assist in the area of anger management and that all resources would be directed towards helping citizens.
Boasting of a major reduction in serious crimes, especially violent crimes for the period September to November, Williams said: “We were averaging 35.5 murders per month for the first eight months of the year but for September, October and November, we averaged 25 murders per month. We are hoping to keep it at 25 or even less for the month of December.”
Attributing this reduction to the improved partnerships at the community level, a smiling Williams said: “The police service has received extensive co-operation from the general public in the last four months and that has helped us to improve our delivery of policing services across the country. We shall surely win the battle against crime and criminality as we continue to work in partnership.”
Urging business owners to call on the police for assistance whenever necessary, especially during the Christmas season, Williams vowed: “We are doing everything possible so while the public is out enjoying, we will be policing to make T&T a safer place for all. We aim to continue the good work seen over the last four months as we continue to reach out to the people of T&T for their continued co-operation and support.”
Asked what the police service counted as its major challenge in 2012, Williams said it was constantly being challenged in the area of crime statistics, as the official homicide count for 2012 up to Tuesday stood at 405. “While we recognise that sometimes in educating the nation on issues around crime might be important, as there were 405 homicides in T&T up to yesterday (Tuesday), there is a major distinction between homicides and murders.”
Williams said homicides included murders, police killings, matters where the Director of Public Prosecutions ruled that a defendant should be charged with murder, and unnatural deaths. “There is conflict and confusion with numbers, but it is really about a misunderstanding as it relates to terminology.
You hear the executive speaking about murders and this conflicts with homicides, because some people use the terms interchangeably. But they are clearly two distinct terms,” he explained.
He said the official murder toll up to Tuesday stood at 365. Asked about initiatives in place to fight crime in Laventille and surrounding communities, Williams said: “We continue to work with Laventille and surrounding communities in a focused and special way. The emphasis is on this because close to 26 percent of murders for 2012 have occurred in Laventille and the surrounding communities.”
“It is a small geographical space in T&T responsible for an extremely large percentage of violent crimes, and from a policing perspective, it is critical for us to focus on this small geographical space to make a difference on the national average. We will be moving forward by engaging people to improve life for those residents, and we believe we can see a resultant drop if we continue to do what we have already started.”
Source: http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-12-21/top-cop-wishes-end-violence-new-year
Williams made the disclosure when asked by reporters on Wednesday what he wanted to see in the coming year as he spoke of a reduction in violent crime in the past four months. Speaking at a promotion exercise at the Police Administration Building, Port-of-Spain, Williams said while the police service was forging ahead with its plan to make T&T safer, it was his personal wish to get to the point “where crime is not a dominant issue on the lips of every citizen.”
He said: “T&T has been struck with too much violence over the years. We need to see the disappearance of violence from our society,” the acting top officer said. “All that we can do as an organisation, we will do it, but we are beseeching citizens to think twice before they act in a violent manner.”
Williams said the police service stood ready to assist in the area of anger management and that all resources would be directed towards helping citizens.
Boasting of a major reduction in serious crimes, especially violent crimes for the period September to November, Williams said: “We were averaging 35.5 murders per month for the first eight months of the year but for September, October and November, we averaged 25 murders per month. We are hoping to keep it at 25 or even less for the month of December.”
Attributing this reduction to the improved partnerships at the community level, a smiling Williams said: “The police service has received extensive co-operation from the general public in the last four months and that has helped us to improve our delivery of policing services across the country. We shall surely win the battle against crime and criminality as we continue to work in partnership.”
Urging business owners to call on the police for assistance whenever necessary, especially during the Christmas season, Williams vowed: “We are doing everything possible so while the public is out enjoying, we will be policing to make T&T a safer place for all. We aim to continue the good work seen over the last four months as we continue to reach out to the people of T&T for their continued co-operation and support.”
Asked what the police service counted as its major challenge in 2012, Williams said it was constantly being challenged in the area of crime statistics, as the official homicide count for 2012 up to Tuesday stood at 405. “While we recognise that sometimes in educating the nation on issues around crime might be important, as there were 405 homicides in T&T up to yesterday (Tuesday), there is a major distinction between homicides and murders.”
Williams said homicides included murders, police killings, matters where the Director of Public Prosecutions ruled that a defendant should be charged with murder, and unnatural deaths. “There is conflict and confusion with numbers, but it is really about a misunderstanding as it relates to terminology.
You hear the executive speaking about murders and this conflicts with homicides, because some people use the terms interchangeably. But they are clearly two distinct terms,” he explained.
He said the official murder toll up to Tuesday stood at 365. Asked about initiatives in place to fight crime in Laventille and surrounding communities, Williams said: “We continue to work with Laventille and surrounding communities in a focused and special way. The emphasis is on this because close to 26 percent of murders for 2012 have occurred in Laventille and the surrounding communities.”
“It is a small geographical space in T&T responsible for an extremely large percentage of violent crimes, and from a policing perspective, it is critical for us to focus on this small geographical space to make a difference on the national average. We will be moving forward by engaging people to improve life for those residents, and we believe we can see a resultant drop if we continue to do what we have already started.”
Source: http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-12-21/top-cop-wishes-end-violence-new-year
No comments:
Post a Comment