By Sue-Ann Wayow
OPERATION Safe City came into full effect last Friday with 40 Electronic Fixed Penalty Notices being issued to drivers for various traffic offences.
In a media release, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) reported that 75 vehicles were searched and 45 stop and search forms were also completed.
Based on the directive of Acting Commissioner McDonald Jacob, officers of the Port-of-Spain Division, inclusive of the Port-of-Spain Task Force (POSTF), Port-of-Spain Gang Unit, Capital City Patrol Unit (CCPU) and the Port-of-Spain City Police conducted the operation between 2 pm and 7 pm.
The operation included several foot and mobile patrols particularly focused within downtown Port-of-Spain between Nelson and Frederick Streets, along Independence Square North and South, where several vehicles and persons were stopped and searched, inclusive of known offenders and their vehicles. Officers paid keen attention to the several business places in the area and were on the lookout for suspicious activity in the area, the TTPS stated.
ACP Collis Hazel coordinated the operation, which was supervised by acting Senior Superintendent Roger Alexander.
The new senior superintendent said that he was eager to get on the ground as he was aware of the unease some persons may feel while in the capital city.
Alexander assured that Operation Safe City was not a one-off exercise but will continue and intensify in the weeks ahead leading up to the Christmas season.
He said the public can look forward to a heavy police presence as officers will be patrolling in the streets, in the public spaces and in the business areas, providing that blanket of security and high visibility which is a strong deterrent to criminal activity.
More intelligence will be gathered, operations will intensity, arrests will be made, and the criminal elements will understand that Port-of-Spain does not belong to them, but to the people, Alexander added.
Jacob also said that the TTPS under Alexander will be striving to return a sense of safety and security to Port-of-Spain.
