00:00During the Chamber of Industry and Commerce's conversations with the Commissioner of Police
00:04event in West Moorings, Police Commissioner Alastair Guevaro fielded a question from the
00:08President of the Tourism Industry Association of Trinidad and Tobago about an updated U.S.
00:14State Department travel advisory.
00:16United States, level three, and I'm going to read this out, travel advisory for TNT,
00:21advising travelers to reconsider travel due to crime and heightened risk of terrorism.
00:28How do we in the industry, how do we actually change that perception and get people to feel confident
00:37coming to Trinidad and Tobago?
00:40Thank you very much, ma'am.
00:43So we do have a tourism policing unit, but at this point in time it is located predominantly in Tobago
00:51because that is where the majority of the tourism industry is.
00:56The Police Commissioner said that local law enforcement received the commendations for its operations
01:01from a superintendent from the York Police Department in Canada who visited Trinidad for Carnival 2026.
01:08My appeal to the persons on the outside, well not on the outside, in Trinidad, who have an audience on
01:17the outside,
01:18let us try to reduce the reputational harm that we are doing to our own.
01:22Because personally on the outside seeing it differently, you know, that same article that you read from there,
01:27there's also a part where they are speaking about the reduction in crime
01:32and the removal of the threat of kidnapping.
01:35I think that is the same one you're reading from us.
01:38So there are positives as well from that article.
01:40The State Department said that although violent crime in Trinidad and Tobago has dropped greatly
01:45since 2024 due to security efforts started during the previous state of emergencies,
01:50crime remains a challenge throughout the country and added crime levels are lower in Tobago than in Trinidad.
01:57While the State Department did declare the kidnapping indicator was removed,
02:01it is now warning there is a risk of terrorist violence, including terrorist attacks and other activity in Trinidad and
02:08Tobago.
02:08Now, is this something, when they do these reports, is this something that they consult with the police service about?
02:14Well, they do the independent analysis of the data that comes out of Trinidad and Tobago.
02:19What I would want to posit is that sometimes since we had Trinidadians that went to fight in the conflict
02:26zone,
02:27we have been placed on the radar, we've been placed on the map as having a potential for persons to
02:33become influenced by that rhetoric.
02:35So I think annually, that has always been the reporting of the U.S. State Department about Trinidad and Tobago
02:42in terms of terrorism.
02:43Is that something you are paying particular attention to now, given the new advisory from the U.S.?
02:48We have been paying attention to it ever since we had persons who went to fight in the conflict zone,
02:53so it's nothing new to us.
02:54An apparent reference to what had occurred before war recently began in the Middle East.
03:00Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
03:02Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
03:03Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
03:04Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
03:05Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
03:05Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
03:05Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
03:05Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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