Problems affecting the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service

Problems affecting the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service

What are some of the current problems which affect the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service? What can be done to alleviate these problems?

Abstract

This paper explores problems facing Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, especially about crime prevention and the possible solutions. At the begging, the paper identifies that issues in the police service affect effectiveness in dealing with crimes reading to the increased rate. The study compares the problems of police service in Trinidad and Tobago with those in other countries like the United States, alongside the crime rate to suggest several workable remedies. Among the issues identified is police deviance, including corruption and use of excessive force. There is also poor management of the institution and inadequate resources, including staff. Among the suggested solutions is to increases budget allocation that will allow proper staffing and increase of other resources like computers. However, there is an alternative in using adequate staffing and management models that will enable appropriate sharing of the responsibilities without overloading some staff. However, due to economic constraints that might affect an increase in budget within the police force, the study recommends the adoption of community policing.

Keywords: Deviance, Resources, Community policing,

Introduction

Trinidad and Tobago [TT] has experienced an increased level of crimes in the recent past, the police service being one of the institutions to blame for the rise. Police are involved in crime prevention, which means that an increase in the rate is an indication of barriers within the service (96). The institution requires a high level of integrity and ethical conduct, proper management and staffing due to its involvement in dealing with the lives of people. Failure to have professional conduct, proper management and resourcing of the police service leads to inefficiency and increased crime rate. This paper explores Trinidad and Tobago Police Service [TTPS] to identify problems leading to its ineffectiveness in combating crimes alongside possible solutions.

Police Deviance and Lack of Accountability

Trinidad and Tobago join other Caribbean countries that have a high level of police deviance, including corruption and violation of human rights which undermining their performance. According to a survey by the United Nations Development Program [UNDP], over 89% of the citizen in TT feels that there is need to work on the corruption within the TTPS (96). Corruption within the TTPS includes areas such as drugs and criminal conviction, where they allow drug traffickers to pass without arrest or conceal vital information to avoid convictions (455). TT experiences high percentage of crimes involving firearms for the example above 70% of murders as shown in Appendix I. It is an indication that there are more police offering their guns to criminals at a fee or other favors. There is a higher rate of possessing firearms in TT compared to other developed countries like the US, indicating a difference in corruption (342).  The fact that there is a higher gun possession among drug sellers further support on corruption within the TTPS since the police benefit more from the deals. Corruption within the TTPS is, therefore, a significant deviance problem which has led to an increased rate of crimes, for example, drug trafficking.

Another deviance uproar within the TTPS is non-respect to human rights. Police in the Caribbean countries has received high ratings of abusing their power to harass citizens and fail to provide them with the needed assistance, especially protection (96). There is excessive use of force by the TTPS towards the criminals and non-criminals a situation which affects the effectiveness of police in dealing with crimes. The problem is not only in TT but also in other Caribbean countries like Guyana experiencing a high rate of police violence and impaired crime control (6).  However, violence is only one element among many violations of rights and poor treatment of citizens in TT, as shown in Appendix II. Police violence is, therefore, a significant problem within the TTPS affecting the effectiveness of crime control.

The impact of police deviance extends beyond their ineffectiveness to handle crimes to lack of support from the public. There is a generally negative attitude towards the police in TT due to increased corruption and lack of respect for human rights (98). Development of negative attitude towards the police service is not only in TT but evident in the United States where the black youth who experience more violence from the police perceive them as incompetent. The Australian citizens have also expressed a negative attitude, especially lack of trust in the police service due to corruption and use of excessive force (478).   There is so much noncooperation between the public and TTPS due to perceived incompetence where most citizens are opting to keep quiet on any criminal acts they see or happen to them (456). TTPS deviance is, therefore contributing to increased crime rate due to impaired public-police cooperation to regulate crimes.

Poor Management of the Police Division

Although the TTPS has a good management structure, the system is ineffective for the service leading to reduced ability to combat crimes.  TTPS experiences a low level of management and supervision that is below the average, as shown on appendix III (248). Among the noted inadequate monitoring and control is lack of oversight on data entry and validation on different crimes (145). Other issues include improper follow-up and preparation of case files, absentees of police in cases, and lack of proper management system (19). The impact of inadequate supervision and management is increased laxity of the individual officers, which increases the rate of corruption and the use of excessive force. There is also poor documentation of the various crimes without correction since top leaders do not adequately oversee the processes. Poor management of the TTPS, as a result, is impacting other problems like corruption and improper records leading to inefficiency and increased crime rate.

Lack of Enough Resources

Another Problem facing TTPS is lack of enough material and human resources. The high workload is a common incidence in most of the Caribbean countries to show in Appendix IV (94). Canada and the United Kingdom are also not an exception of understaffing in the police staffing leading to work overload (17). The impact of high workload is inefficiency in every assigned duty, including investigation on crimes. Inefficiency in workload, on the other hand, affects public trust and incompetency perception about the police, and this effect is evident in TT. The institution also lacks sufficient information systems, including computers in every station. According to Seepersad, lack of adequate systems to enter data directly is the source of many errors within the service in documenting and making crime follow up (145). The problem extends to the United States and United Kingdom police service with less commitment to the information system (2503). With the increasing rate of crime in TT and other countries, the information system is an integral part of increasing analysis and planning on crime prevention.

Solutions to the Problems

There are several solutions some specific and others general which the TT government and TTPS can undertake to overcome the various deficits within the service. Among the solutions is increased funding to the police service. Most of the problems including understaffing, insufficient resources and improper management as results of low budget allocation. An increase in budget allocation will lead to increased staffs, more computers and research on proper management models to overcome the problems.  Another possible solution is community policing, where the public oversights and supports the police. Community policing has been effective in countries like Barbados due to enhanced competence, trust and support on the police, which also prevents crimes and violation of human rights (97). TTPS also has an opportunity to adopt different models of staffing and management to solve related problems. Staffing models in the police differ, including the allocation of many police in the high crime area. Proper staffing model allows utilization of the few personnel without workload.

Limitations

Despite the availability of alternative solutions, there is a limitation on the application due to hard economic times with a strict budget in TT. Most countries operate under tight budgets, and police service is usually one of the affected institutions. The government is always aware of the inadequate funds from different reports like the Joint Select Committee, Trinidad and Tobago Parliament. It is hard for the government in TT to increase funds for the TTPS since, as crime rates increases, other institutions alike the prison services also need an increase in budget. As a result, increasing TTPS resources, including staffing and computers, might be challenging for TT. Another limitation is community morals which affect police accountability. Corruption and violation of human rights in the TTPS is a reflection of the immoral behaviors within the community. It might be therefore hard to employ proper supervision and management among other interventions in overcoming the police integrity issues unless the whole society changes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this study finds that TTPS faces several problems including lack of accountability among the servicemen, poor management and supervision and inadequate resources. Majority of the community members express concern that the servicemen are corrupt and use excessive force in their work. There is also poor management of different functions, including identification of proper staffing models and data collection despite having a suitable management structure. The paper suggests several solutions to the problems, including an increased budget allocation to staff and increases resources. Another solution is the adoption of different staffing and management models alongside the use of community policing. However, there are barriers to some of the solutions, including insufficient funds to raise the budget and community unethical behaviors, including corruption. There is a need to adopt solutions to TTPS identified problems that bypass dependence on the budget increase and formal supervision of the servicemen conduct.

Recommendations

Following the challenge in increasing TTPS budget and inability of any strict measures to address under resources and accountability, I would recommend for non-formal and less structural solutions. Community policing is cheap and societal based approach to address accountability issues. It is easy to for the community members to provide the structure of addressing crimes to the police since they will have blocked all avenues of corruption and violation of human rights. Police cannot correct bribes in case of community policing because the community is in charge of most of the decisions as TTPS takes over on refined information. Another recommendation is to adopt unique models of police staffing to address understaffing issues.  TTPS can stat assigning service members according to the severity of crimes and keep on shifting them as the pattern changes. Both community policing and proper staffing model will lower the need for more police and reduce workload.

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Appendix I: TT Firearms Related Offences

Appendix II: Citizens who Believe in Proper Treatment of the Public by the Police including in Fairness, Respect and Courtesy 

Appendix III:  Perception of Police Service Across Three Nations 

Appendix IV: Police Population Density in different Caribbean Countries