By Sue-Ann Wayow
GUNS, gangs, drugs and youth are the main factors involved the 600 plus murders recorded for 2022 in Trinidad and Tobago says Commissioner of Police Erla Harewood-Christopher.
Giving an analysis of violent crime in Trinidad and Tobago, the CoP said that persons between the ages of 15 to 29 are the country’s main crime victims and violators.
On Monday, Harewood-Christopher, gave a presentation on this country’s crime situation at the regional symposium on violence as a public health issue hosted jointly with Caricom member states.
Other representing CoPs also spoke on their countries’ crime situation and had similar statements regarding the use of guns by young people in criminal activities.
Harewood-Christopher said, “In T&T violent, especially, gun-related homicides, have been increasing at a phenomenal rate, peaking at 605 in 2022. This problem is associated with guns, gangs and drugs.
“This pattern has continued and in 2022, with 12,578 serious crimes, violent crimes accounted for 38 per cent of those.”
She said that 72% of the victims of serious crimes were also victims of violent crimes.
According to her information, Harewood-Christopher said that there was a devastating impact on the use of firearms on the nation’s youths.
She said, “An analysis of violent crime in T&T shows the youth violence in 2013 accounted for 41.36 % of all the victims of violent crimes. This percentage has varied over the years 2013 to 2022 with 33 % recorded in 2022.
“The analysis prominently highlights our youth as the victims of crime and I daresay also, as the offenders in violent crimes.”
According to the 2013 figure, 60.7 % of violent crime offenders were youth offenders, Harewood-Christopher said.
She continued that in 2017, of the violent crime offenders, 54.5 % were youths and in 2022, youths made up 54.6 per cent% of the violent crime offenders.
With the high level of violence, a “useful approach” was to adopt a public health approach the CoP said.
This was a multi-prong approach involving defining and monitoring the problems, identifying risk factors and protective factors, developing and testing prevention strategies and ensuring widespread implementation of effective strategies.
Harewood-Christopher, like other speakers at the symposium also mentioned the correlation with social issues and violent crime and used the opportunity to hail the good work being done by the numerous police youth clubs.
