00:00Like any other community, Muslim community, all the community is affecting
00:04everybody. Because as I say that people when they come to Tobago, they come to
00:08Tobago as a safe haven away from the crime. But people are saying, look what's happening
00:12right now. We are faced with one of the highest murder rate in history in Tobago.
00:16On Monday, religious leaders and other groups met with the Assistant
00:21Commissioner of Police, Oswin Subero, to discuss the crime situation and its
00:25effect on Tobago. Area Representative Lambo Lowlands, Wayne Clark, was also in
00:31attendance. Crime is a holistic, something that's affecting everybody
00:35in Toronto, Tobago. So some of the things that we have discussed, you know, one is
00:39to pledge our support, to work with the new ACP as how we can alleviate crime in
00:43Tobago. Some of the things we came up with is, one, if we look at what's
00:47happening in the school system today, we've seen the bullying is a serious
00:50problem. We see gang violence in school is a serious problem. And right now, if
00:54school is a breeding ground for criminals, because what is happening
00:57when they come out of school, they come out of as criminals and coming out in
01:01society. That's one. Mr Ali also spoke to the longstanding issue of a new Tobago
01:07prison. In Tobago, the next problem, we don't even have a proper prison system in
01:10Tobago. Prisoners have to go to Trinidad. Thirdly, if you want to look at the vehicle
01:14situation, it's approximately 30 vehicles which is down at the
01:19Old Grange Police Station. And these vehicles need to be fixed. Because if you
01:23want the police to fight crime, then they have to have the necessary tools
01:27and the necessary resources to fight crimes. And if you fix these vehicles,
01:31then they will have that and they can go out in the communities, visit the school,
01:35visit the communities, do their patrols and so on. Ali said Defence Force and
01:39police patrols must not only be seasonal. The army could work together
01:43with the police to start back their joint patrol because many years ago, this
01:47was done and it was a success. So you need to reintroduce a lot of these
01:51things to help with fighting crime. Also, right now, we are living in a really
01:55lawless society in Trinidad because of what's happening in Trinidad. And I feel
01:58it's about time the government really, really have to get a hands-on approach on
02:01crime in terms of getting all the army, especially, to work with the police
02:06officers in combating crime.
02:08Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
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