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02:34We bring you exclusive interviews with decision makers and in-depth analysis of the issues affecting your life.
02:41From Parliament to the community, from policy to people.
02:45That's what 90 minutes each night gives us.
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03:18Good evening, Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the world.
03:20I'm Marlon Hopkins, and as always, welcome to Beyond the Tape.
03:23And a very special good evening to our friends in Grenada.
03:27Jackie, who is watching us?
03:28Grenada, who again?
03:31All over the world?
03:32All right.
03:33All over the world.
03:34A very special good evening to all of you.
03:37It's always good to see and speak with you all.
03:40All right.
03:40So with us this evening, we do have a very special gentleman.
03:44And it's always a good opportunity.
03:46It's always good to have him here.
03:49That's the Deputy Commissioner of Police Administration, Mr. Junior Benjamin.
03:53Mr. Benjamin, it's always good to see and speak with you.
03:55Thank you very much for coming today.
03:57Yes, Marlon.
03:57It is indeed a privilege to be here.
03:59And to all that is listening, we expect to have a wonderful time.
04:02And we're really grateful for all that this show has been doing in spreading that information to the public.
04:08So, Mr. Benjamin, let's get right into it because you coming here today, it is at a time of great
04:17activity from the police.
04:20Of course, you did have the trade union march today.
04:24Right now, as we speak, there is a lot of activity in Tobago.
04:30And I understand that tonight, there is going to be the launch of Diwali Nagar.
04:36So, a lot of police out there in Trinidad and Tobago this evening.
04:42Yes, certainly.
04:43So, this is going to be a busy time for the police.
04:45But I'm going to start off by saying we're ready.
04:48We're ready.
04:49And the commissioner has ensured that there is proper deployment of his officers.
04:56And I can say that in all three areas that you've spoken about, one, we have already seen where, again,
05:05the deployment of the officers.
05:06And I'm saying even the public working with us, we can foresee that it will be very successful.
05:14The trade unions this morning, I think, I just got off the phone with the head of the senior superintendent,
05:20Port of Spain.
05:21And he was able to tell me that he had well over about 2,000 or more persons there.
05:26And it was a very good march in terms of persons came out and said that Mr. Anaset and his
05:37team, everybody, worked with the police.
05:39And it was one that was very cordial.
05:41And I think that they accomplished what they wanted to do.
05:44And for us, that was total success because we believed that persons could go out there, exercise their right to
05:51protest.
05:52And at the same time, you know, we can preserve order.
05:55And that is what we want.
05:56And we were grateful to see that happen today.
05:58Yeah.
05:59Is it possible that you can speak a little bit about some of the allegations that Mr. Anaset would have
06:06said over the past few days?
06:08And he said there were attempts by senior police officers to have the march postponed.
06:14He claimed officers had contacted him to ask if the labor movement would agree to reschedule the march because Tobago
06:21Carnival had exhausted police resources.
06:23He said he rejected the proposal, arguing that the unions had already rescheduled the march and that postponing it again
06:30at the 11th hour would frustrate workers and members of the public who were preparing to participate.
06:36Well, let me just say my understanding is that, yes, there was some initial conversation in that direction.
06:43Again, the aim was to really ensure at all times that we wanted to ensure that even as we deploy
06:49our officers, that we do not run too thin in terms of the deployment of the officers.
06:55So there was an initial conversation.
06:58I think that the commissioner, in his wisdom as well, listening to Mr. Anaset and what he was saying, we
07:05had enough police officers here in Trinidad to ensure that the safety of the trade union march.
07:13And therefore, the commissioner, in his wisdom, okayed for it to continue.
07:19By no means, we were saying that it should not continue.
07:21We were just suggesting that if it could have been done on another day so that we could ensure that
07:25there was proper coverage of the event, we would have appreciated it.
07:31Nevertheless, we had enough persons and we had the deployment of persons today and clearly it shows that Detroit and
07:40Tobago Police Service, we are multifaceted and we have quite a number of officers that can do the job.
07:45Even though Tobago is having the carnival, we have enough officers here to ensure safety and security of the nation.
07:51You see, I asked that question because of the environment that prevails right now and I think that this is
07:59just my view.
08:00I think that the words, the claims of Mr. Anaset may have given the impression that the police were in
08:11some way trying to stifle the trade union movement and that's the reason why I asked that question.
08:16Yeah, and let me just probably put it out there that Detroit and Tobago Police Service, we understand that there
08:25is a constitutional right of an individual to protest and to do it peacefully.
08:32And therefore, by no means, we are here to inhibit or even to stop that.
08:38We want to ensure at all times that we also have a responsibility to ensure public order.
08:43And therefore, in seeking to do that, we want to ensure that we are able to give that public order
08:50in such a way that persons are protected by all means.
08:54And therefore, we were just seeking to have that initial conversation just to ensure that we had enough police officers
09:00to do it.
09:02But nevertheless, as I said, with the consultation, with the commission of police, we recognize the officers that we have
09:10here can also do the job.
09:11So therefore, it was given the blessings and we were grateful that at the end of the day, all is
09:17well that ends well and we are grateful so far.
09:20I think that every year, on another issue now, I think that every year for Diwali, because of the amount
09:28of people that flock to the Nagar every year,
09:32there is sometimes a problem with traffic, yeah?
09:38Can you give any assurances at all whether because of this, I don't want to describe it as a perennial
09:46problem over the years,
09:47but because of these challenges that they have had with traffic over the years,
09:51is anything different going to be done this time around or is it that you all are going to send
09:57more people this time to deal with what is expected?
10:04Well, what I can tell you, and I don't want to make promises, and next thing you know that promises
10:08is broken, you know?
10:10So I want to be very, very careful.
10:11Nevertheless, I want to say that very early, I must say that the officers were involved in the preparation of
10:21all that, the planning that was going on.
10:24And therefore, Senior Superintendent Bagwandine and his team was right there making preparation, knowing what was happening.
10:31And I spoke with him today, and I think yesterday as well.
10:36And we are very much assured that the necessary manpower was deployed to ensure that there should not be any
10:44great traffic congestions.
10:46And we also believe that the number of officers that are there are adequate enough to deal with any situation
10:52that will occur,
10:53so persons can feel free to go and enjoy themselves, knowing that the police would be there to ensure safety
10:59and security of all individuals.
11:01I would want to return to Tobago, but I know that a very significant event would have taken place today.
11:11And in fact, I see where you, as the Deputy Commissioner of Police Administration, you would have spearheaded this initiative.
11:20And it was an initiative that would have been formally open today.
11:31Is it today? The FBI initiative?
11:34Yes. Okay, yes.
11:34So what happened today is that we had a wonderful time.
11:38I think more and more we recognize that crime is multifaceted, and no more a person needs to confront you
11:48in your office.
11:49Crime is, I think crime is changing now.
11:52So therefore, in order to cause harm, sometimes we believe a person has to be physical.
11:57We recognize that really the greatest harm that is taking place now is in the cyber world.
12:02So this is really, it was a cyber security seminar, and we had an expert, all right, from the U
12:12.S., a retired person from the cyber security area from the FBI.
12:20And he came, and I want to say it was a wonderful, wonderful seminar, where we were able to look
12:29at different techniques here, how they would have dealt with situations across here,
12:34and even showed us things that we can do here to ensure that we can really deal with the whole
12:41idea of cyber security.
12:43And more and more, I think these are the things that is needed so that we can really bring Trinidad
12:47and Tobago into that 21st century initiative to deal with the crimes of tomorrow and even crimes of today.
12:56So during this session, the presenter explored the implications of cryptocurrencies and referenced the recent international cyber attack that resulted
13:03in reported losses of approximately U.S. $6.2 billion.
13:07And I don't have to tell you, Mr. Benjamin, that when it comes to cryptocurrency and when it comes to
13:15people wanting to invest,
13:18I think that I can say that over the years, more and more people have been investing some of these
13:24schemes, and I say that for a reason.
13:26They have fallen apart. The police, I'm sure that in some cases they're still investigating, but in a lot of
13:33cases, people have not been giving back their monies.
13:35So I suspect the point I'm making is that in Trinidad and Tobago, we do have a problem, and this
13:42is where this sort of training comes in.
13:45Yes, and I think a lot of times people are tricked into these things, and one of the things that
13:50we recognize is that these people,
13:54they would normally allow you to look like if you are making money, and then as you invest,
13:59they want to build your trust, they would then allow you to invest a large sum, and that's when you
14:05would lose out.
14:06And it was very good to listen to Mr., what we call Mr. Oginbaum, and he did a tremendous, I
14:17would say, event in terms of sharing his experience
14:21and a lot of things that he had, have experienced in the United States, and we can learn from it
14:29here.
14:29And I thought that he even wrote a book on cyber security that he gave me a copy,
14:35and also gave a person's electrical copy of it, that we could learn from it.
14:41So that I think we just want to thank the U.S. Embassy for really partnering with the Trinidad and
14:47Tobago Police Service
14:48to assist us in continuing to develop our officers so that we can eventually, you know, have a much better
14:55police service.
14:56Let me also put that we had about 64 persons online and from throughout the Caribbean,
15:01and this is one of the things that I like about the Police Academy.
15:05We are involving the other agencies and throughout the Caribbean to be part of what we're doing.
15:11So as we continue to make an impact throughout the region.
15:14Yeah. All right.
15:16DCP, we will discuss this a little further during the program, but we do have some headlines for you.
15:44All right, everybody.
15:45Just to remind you that our numbers are 623-1711.
15:49The extensions are 1996 and 1997.
15:52And also, we do have, what's the WhatsApp number?
15:55I'm Jackie, 765-8383.
15:58And if you want to share videos with us here on Beyond the Tape,
16:01you can do so by emailing to beyondthetape1 at gmail.com.
16:07You have it there?
16:08Jackie, you're giving it to us there?
16:10You don't have it?
16:11All right.
16:12Beyond the Tape 1, right?
16:15Not O-N-E, right?
16:171 at gmail.com.
16:20All right?
16:21All right.
16:21So here's what everybody, right?
16:23So please make a note of all of the details there.
16:26We are going to very short break, everybody.
16:28We're coming back.
16:28Four important numbers and facts you should know about the TTPS's Public Satisfaction Survey.
16:37100.
16:38Because the survey is 100% anonymous.
16:41No, we are not coming after you.
16:4516.
16:46Because you must be 16 years and over to participate in the survey.
16:53Five.
16:54Because the survey can be completed in just five short minutes.
17:00Two.
17:01Because the survey closes November 2nd.
17:05You can't improve what you don't measure.
17:08Five minutes of your time helps build the police service you want to see.
17:13Take the survey.
17:15Share your perspective.
17:17And help us improve our service.
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20:05Yes, and welcome back.
20:06So, we do have with us today Deputy Commissioner of Police Administration, Mr. Junior Benjamin.
20:11Mr. Benjamin, I want to get back to Tobago a little bit.
20:15Because there has been some activity in Tobago over the past few days where we have seen certain spikes.
20:25And, of course, we can't compare what is happening in Tobago as to what transpires in Trinidad.
20:31That's a different kettle of fish.
20:34But I think that when you do have some spikes in a country like Tobago, where they're highly dependent on
20:43the tourism at dollar.
20:45And, you know, Tobago is always seen as a very serene space.
20:52Right?
20:53And in the context as to what is happening with Tobago Carnival 2, some people may be concerned about their
21:02safety.
21:03Can you speak to that for us?
21:04Well, I want to be quite honest.
21:07When we look at the stats, we've seen compared to last year, we've had eight murders compared to six around
21:18the same time last year.
21:20So, certainly, we've seen an increase by two murders.
21:24That being said, I think that it's important to see the difference.
21:30I think you would have probably, when you compare to last year, you're getting more domestic and disagreement between persons
21:38than you're seeing it like if it is gang-related.
21:41It's certainly a totally different thing to what we were seeing, especially in 2024.
21:46So, it's important to understand what is happening.
21:49And, therefore, we are looking at that and things have been put in place to ensure we address conflict situations
21:57within Tobago.
21:58And, likewise, we're doing that within all our divisions to really look at the cause of the deaths so that
22:04we can know the strategy to be implemented.
22:07Presently, the DCP operation, she's up there with the team.
22:11We have all our officers there.
22:13And, they are also looking at every single situation to ensure, especially now, I think, probably Tobago is the safest
22:20place on earth right now.
22:21Because, we have our guard and emergency officers up there.
22:25We have IETF officers.
22:26We have the normal police officers there.
22:29We have patrols going around the clock.
22:30And, therefore, if there is one place you want to be and you can talk about safety and security, it's
22:36Tobago right now.
22:37So, Tobago, we want to encourage persons.
22:39You can feel free to go across, enjoy the Tobago Carnival, and know that the police will be everywhere looking
22:46and really having your safety and security as our priority.
22:52Is there anything that you can tell our viewers this evening as it relates to police-involved shootings?
23:01Because, I think that over the years, and I think that it is safe to say that the police service
23:09has come under severe criticism over the years when it comes to police-involved shootings.
23:21And, it almost, or people out there, they give the impression that the police are going out there to literally
23:28kill people, you know.
23:32Is there anything you'd like to tell us about that?
23:34Your feelings about that?
23:36Well, first of all, I think that if there's any part that the Antibagos Police Service probably should get a
23:41medal right now, it should be for police shootings.
23:43It is, compared to last year, it's certainly done.
23:47So, therefore, I think that if last year they wanted to beat us for police shootings, then they should at
23:53least compliment us this year.
23:55It's certainly done.
23:56But, we are saying, though, that we are not even taking a boast in that because there's nothing to boast
24:02about whenever there's a police shooting.
24:04The person that dies, it's a family that is suffering, it's a person, it is always never our intention.
24:14And, therefore, it is not a good thing for us to come to act like if we're going to boast
24:19about this.
24:19But we are asking persons, especially when you are confronted with the police, that it is important to understand that
24:29these persons, especially, if not all the time, seek to at least, you know, retaliate.
24:36And it is in that situation where the police will use the use of force policy to use as sufficient
24:43force as necessary to ensure safety and security of themselves or even other persons.
24:50Yeah. All right.
24:51DCP, let's take our first call.
24:53Good evening, caller.
24:55Hi, sir.
24:56Good evening. Yes.
24:57Go ahead, sir.
25:04Mr. Benjamin, DCP, Benjamin. Yes.
25:07I want to take you all back a long time now.
25:10I didn't like too much easy money.
25:14I remember a race.
25:16A race, 20 people, to get the jackpot, and I thought everybody would get the keys to get the money
25:23and the key parts appear.
25:36But I would like to see much more done as it relates to these financial transactions, these failed financial transactions.
25:44And I want to think that the best way to deal with those situations is through education and the person's
25:52understanding that you have a responsibility not to engage in these things.
25:58Because I think we are the ones, or the persons that get themselves involved, they are the ones that really
26:04create the problem.
26:05Because after those monies are, let's say, you know, it leaves what we recognize today, it is really hard to
26:13even get back the money.
26:15And it's even harder to persecute the persons, especially with these cyber crimes.
26:21Because to find them, they are miles away.
26:24Sometimes, you know, you can't even trace the money to even have evidence to convict individuals.
26:32So we encourage persons, do not try to run for easy money.
26:35You know, you need to ensure that if you have been going through this, it is important for you to,
26:43one, be educated about it.
26:45And secondly, I think that with proper education, there should be proper application.
26:51All right.
26:51Let's take another call.
26:52Good evening, caller.
26:54Hello, good evening.
26:55Good evening.
26:55Are you here?
26:56Are you, ma'am?
26:57Yes.
26:58Hey, look, three points earlier.
26:59Three points.
27:00Good evening.
27:01Go ahead.
27:02First point.
27:04Yes, nice to have a few difficulties and officers, but because he tries very much.
27:12But I'd like to ask a question, because concerning the man that was killed by the police,
27:18a small way to say, because he had a subject removed, and it's really a six-way pistol there
27:25in CTPS markings, where did he get that?
27:28And then what happens now, CTPS has to be very careful now when they have guns, because
27:33how people could get these guns now, CTPS, and they have to wear it, because guns cause
27:37a lot of trouble.
27:39That's my first point.
27:39But the second point is, concerning today, what I want to ask everybody is really safe.
27:44But again, we spoke about the water that they have.
27:46So, look at the water, something like the water.
27:48But all the best, be safe, all of you, Marlon, be safe, officer, be safe, everybody, because
27:55God alone could work situations out for us.
27:58Thank you very much.
27:59All right.
27:59Thank you very much.
28:01So, you probably have to have the second question, but the first one with the CTPS gun, it's
28:06quite important.
28:07I don't know if you would have read before that prior to that, I think either day before
28:14or two days before, there was a police officer, while on duty, he was relieved of his firearm.
28:20And it was that said firearm that they found the officer with, or sorry, the gentleman
28:28Involving the police, involved shooting, yeah, with that firearm.
28:32Okay.
28:32So, again, it is one of those situations where we are grateful that we were able to get back
28:40the firearms, certainly not under that situation.
28:44But we are saying that, you know, officers or persons who seek to resist the police, we
28:52are going to have that zero tolerance in terms of dealing with the situation based on the
28:58force that is measured out to us.
29:00So, this is just one of those situations.
29:03This is not where the firearm was all over the place.
29:06It seemed to be there's some correlation there.
29:08And that matter is under investigation at the moment.
29:11So, we are going to continue to look at it and to see if there is a nexus between the
29:16gentleman and the firearm.
29:18Yeah.
29:18All right, Jackie, what do we have?
29:20Oh, we are going to a very short break, everybody.
29:23We're coming back.
29:25You need five.
29:27Five minutes.
29:28That's all it will take for you to complete the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Public
29:33Satisfaction Survey on your phone.
29:36Yes, five minutes.
29:37That's all it will take for you to share your experience with the police, what we're doing
29:44well, and even ways in which we can improve.
29:48Your feedback will help us improve the quality of service we give to you in our stations, on
29:55our streets, or even when you call for help.
29:58So, just give us five minutes.
30:01Take this away, share your perspective, and help us improve our service.
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34:29Transcription by CastingWords
34:29call and leave his number on a name i can probably even uh try to get some information and get
34:35back
34:36to him on on that situation all right thank you very much we do have another call good evening
34:40caller hi good evening good evening good evening mr benjamin yes good evening to you
34:51i had called earlier well a couple weeks ago considering speeding white lines on the nation
34:58and even the local streets like zebra crossings and uncontrolled intersection um i just wanted to
35:11know where we are with that because i find it so important especially because zebra crossings
35:16that have passed fading when the drivers are saying you know the way they approach the area
35:21that's very dangerous to the pedestrian i'm just putting in again to make up another plea
35:29yeah all right i do know that mr benjamin can respond to that you know that may be a question
35:34for the ministry of works and transport i know a few months ago they had started a process i see
35:40where the process has been stopped but again i know that the government has been speaking about
35:45funding and so on so um maybe that is a question that we can raise with the ministry of works
35:52and
35:52transport for you all right um we do have another call okay um nothing yet all right so you're calling
35:58us on 623-1711 the extensions are 1996 and 1997. mr benjamin speak a little bit about this survey here
36:05that you all are asking people to take five minutes to fill out yes um i think that people are
36:12always
36:12talking about the police service and the fact that you know there should be better customer service
36:19when they come to the station they don't like how the police talk to them sometimes we have person
36:23that are saying that they do like you know um they've seen an improvement in that customer service
36:29and so on it's very important that um we do this survey and we ask the public to help us
36:34because we want
36:35to make the adjustment and sometimes you need empirical data to really show us probably those
36:42things that we are doing well those things that you know we need to improve and this is really the
36:47public's way of really um sharing your view because we want to hear what you have to see and therefore
36:53this is a way of the triantelago police service reaching out to the public
36:57and asking persons to please a good experience bad experience come on share it with us and you
37:03don't need to leave your name we are not coming after you we are just we just want to get
37:07the
37:07information so that we can really make the necessary adjustment because the time has come for us to
37:13start to give quality service to our public and therefore it is safe to say that the in the information
37:21gathered it is going to be used to influence the way that the police that they interact with members
37:27of the public certainly certainly certainly and we are saying that uh and i have always said it
37:33there's a difference between reducing crime and you know reducing the fear of crime and therefore
37:39i think that we i'm just saying for me i i believe that we're doing well in terms of reducing
37:43crime
37:44when we look at our figures uh we're seeing right now uh 284 murders compared to 2024 we had 529
37:53last
37:54year around the same we had 311 so it means that when you compare there's a great disparity in terms
38:01of a reduction that being said there's a reduction in crime but is there a reduction in the fear of
38:06crime
38:06and the fear of crime is reduced by the way you treat people and therefore it's important for us to
38:11have
38:11these uh data to guide us so that we can start to reduce the fear of crime and also just
38:17ensure
38:17that the citizens of tuantibago are treated with some greater respect and even with a greater level
38:23of care and concern all right let's take another call good evening caller call it yes good evening sir
38:30go ahead please all right caller hold on because you're sounding a little bit muffled so if you could
38:38speak up a little bit so that dcp benjamin could hear you beautiful yes great yeah especially this
38:47is one of the listeners uh the officer over there uh my incident happened today with my dad
38:56um he wasn't able to see a pretty strong area now we had an emergency this morning with my mom
39:03she took
39:05in sick this morning um my dad rushed her to the hospital right um so when he dropped off to
39:12the hospital
39:12he went to the hospital and he went to the hospital and he got a phone for the same time
39:21so he pulled over
39:22um before before he could have before he could have come out from his pocket officer walked up to the
39:29side of him and hit him a ticket a ticket right yeah now the car he's seatbelt after he then
39:38stopped to pull
39:54the phone the phone the phone the phone the phone call the phone call the phone call
39:57the phone call he got from the hospital was that my mom had now passed away
40:03ready so right now we have a ticket of 1500
40:12uh condolences to you and your relatives sir yeah yeah so uh let me just start off there um
40:19yeah condolences um to to lose your mom and you know for him a wife in this time is really
40:26really
40:27difficult and um i guess even that compounds the situation that you just uh shared with us but i just
40:34want to just you know uh if you may uh look at the situation uh in terms of on its
40:41own merit um i i do
40:43not know because i i need to have some more facts because one of the things that we have to
40:48uh look at where did he pull aside was it a place where it was a new parking area um
40:54without the facts i'm
40:56unable to see but if it is a place where it's a new parking area even do
41:01uh you want to answer a call you know you don't break the law to you know to answer a
41:08phone it you
41:09know so without the facts i can't really see all right um but nevertheless i am saying that the
41:15police officer also have as a discretion as well so it is important to weigh all these situations and
41:21it's always good to hear both sides before you can make a conclusion yeah all right so um i'm just
41:26saying that you know if it is something that you when you look at the facts if you believe that
41:33you
41:33were within the law then i'm saying yes you can contest that um if it is one way uh you
41:39you broke the
41:40law and this has happened um i'm just saying you know it's really unfortunate but nevertheless i think
41:47that we can probably put that under lessons that we can learn as we continue to grow as a country
41:53and as
41:53a nation but uh all in all i i just want to come back to the fact that um our
41:58sympathies are with
41:59you right now um that is really a tough time for you and and your dad and we really uh
42:05pray that as
42:05you continue to go through that you continue to still give your service to the country as we continue to
42:13do what is right and we will continue to talk to our officers to have some discretion even in these
42:18situations jackie um we must go to very short break we're coming back everybody
42:27over 40 years in the trinidad and tobago police service has taught me one important lesson
42:36evidence matters in policing we rely on evidence to establish the facts and make informed decisions
42:47decisions therefore improving policing should be no different that's why your participation in the
42:54ttps public satisfaction survey is so important your honest feedback provides the evidence needed to
43:04understand what's working what isn't and where improvements are necessary don't leave it to someone
43:11else to tell your story your experience is evidence your perspective matters take this away today
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46:04all right everybody so dcp junior benjamin he is co-hosting with me today we have a call jackie let's
46:13take that call please good evening caller i believe you sir good evening
46:19dcp benjamin and as i said dcp marlon
46:25i will try to be as brief as possible i might i just have three concerns one i know when
46:34the when
46:35uh as the despair i mean you'll have meetings with your seniors you'll you'll give instructions to
46:41them how they should operate and and stuff like that and but the message sometimes is not transported
46:47down to the station the police station in the charge room in the way that the officers in charge of
46:54the charge is supposed to operate with individuals so what we are saying is that sometimes we need to
47:01mr benjamin let's see your senior so you're giving your commanders your your inspectors try to get them
47:08to talk to the the constables and the corporates in the charge room i have witnessed in many stations
47:15that when you go there there's a lot of people and the officers behind the desk they're standing to
47:20talk to each other uh what they did yesterday and what they're going to do tomorrow and stuff like that
47:25when people come to the station it's because they're seeking redress
47:29and nobody put a gun to your head to accept the police job because there are a lot of people
47:34who
47:34want to work so i'm saying respect the people so when the police are asking the civilian population
47:41see something say something they must be comfortable in wanting to do that so i'm saying don't look at
47:48the police service giving lip service because i know for a fact how you operate uh you take your job
47:55seriously but if you're again i'll repeat if the sergeant and inspectors have not been properly trained
48:02how to speak to the juniors in the child room two civilians then you probably lie there my final point
48:10is i know for a fact that we haven't a lot of problems with police officers i can't even pass
48:16anymore but we're talking specifically about children in jubago one of the problems actually
48:21problem one of the solutions that the police different police commissioners say um we'll weed them
48:27out we'll weed them out my thing is why waste the weed them out your recruiting is where it starts
48:33and if proper
48:35recruiting takes things they wouldn't have a problem and i'll give you a quick example you have published
48:40names on the newspaper and said if you know anything about this individual tell us i remember calling
48:46the lady's number and telling the lady just by the one on the phone um but sir the area that
48:53you're
48:53saying that is cheaper is they only have 21 houses in the area but they listed at number 131
49:00and you know what he told me oh gosh if somebody had to get off there so people from different
49:07areas
49:08going to different areas with you and the father whatever have you making your job as dcp admin
49:12is very difficult i don't want to keep the hobby program but man i will come back you look he
49:18is more useful than ever is it because of football and mr benjamin continue your good word god bless
49:25boy jackie give me a few a few days this is my this is the end of it you know
49:30when when it gets
49:32to seven o'clock this evening i go on you know with new returns on on on monday but mr
49:37benjamin
49:38and you mentioned it here this evening and you made some very very serious points as it relates to that
49:45very very delicate relationship between the police and members of the public and the gentleman also spoke
49:53about instructions and the instructions not trickling down to the officers at the police station
50:01yes and um clearly when we listen to persons we we're getting that information and we we're seeing
50:10that a lot of persons uh they have some negative um you know feedback in terms of that and that
50:17is an
50:18area i think sometimes as an organization we need to pause and really say you know we need to work
50:22on that
50:22and certainly uh that's why customer service and the satisfaction survey is important so it will bear
50:29you know it's not just one person saying it but we can look and even see where we're seeing most
50:34of this
50:34is happening and so forth you know so we really want to encourage persons to take this survey so that
50:39it
50:39can help us have some data and intelligence you know evidence-based solution uh so that we can really
50:47change the situation the next thing that i i think that i i think that i i heard in terms
50:52of rogue police
50:53officers and i want to just say that we have a zero tolerance in relation to rogue police officers
50:58we are saying that if you know of a rogue police officer we need to know so that we can
51:05read them out now the gentleman talked about uh recruitment and i agree that that is a
51:10a situation um where we have persons and if we can do proper uh investigation we can read them out
51:19uh we have the polygraph that we use again another way that we sort of weed out quite a number
51:24there's
51:25quite a number of person that tries and and fail they can't go further because of the polygraph etc
51:30nevertheless i think that even for those that probably come in very good when they get into the
51:36system uh we have to ensure that they don't become corrupt through the system and we are saying to
51:42persons if you know something you know you should say something because i honestly believe that there
51:47should be a whistleblower uh policy where persons if you can tell us about officers who are rogue
51:53and and so forth and it can lead to a proper conviction then you know a person should be rewarded
51:58for that because we want to clear up the situation all right uh let's take another call our final call
52:03i suspect good evening caller yeah good evening
52:06my mother and did the message they asked the start commissioners and this time had i was frauded with
52:13uh somebody scam my account in the bank with about 50 000 with different different regions
52:21the various locations and then sent me to cross towards san panando i went to san panando this is six
52:30and this is in june right and i called many times they give and they said they'll call me back
52:40they'll call me back
52:41and they never call a cornerback and i need any money i have to go and do surgery after the
52:48day before i call
52:50again
52:59and they said
53:08yeah
53:09I cannot tell them now, they will never call me back.
53:12Yeah.
53:13In fact, they cannot prosper and prosper.
53:17They call me, they tell me not.
53:20Mr. Benjamin, what assistance can you give the gentleman?
53:23I want to again ask if I have the name of the individual,
53:27please leave your name and number.
53:29Let me try and see how I can get on to you
53:31and let me try not to put your thoughts now
53:37because you recognize that.
53:39And this is really true.
53:41When we promise persons that you're going to follow them up,
53:45call them and you don't, they lose confidence in the police.
53:48And I'm just saying that we need to be officers of all words
53:51and follow up is so important.
53:53I think that's another way that we can build confidence in this service
53:56where if a report is given,
53:58let's call the person and tell them what is happening with the report.
54:01And I think that is something that we need to work on
54:03and we are working on that, I can say, as a fact in the police service.
54:07Mr. Benjamin, I just have about two minutes again.
54:10Anything else you'd like to tell us before you leave us today?
54:12Well, you know, as we said, this week is a really, it's a hectic week,
54:18but certainly with the help of the public, we know that we're going to get a wonderful weekend.
54:23We recognize that Tobago Carnival is on.
54:27We want to encourage persons.
54:28Make sure go to Tobago and enjoy yourself.
54:31Stay within the law.
54:33The police officers are there.
54:34We have the commissioner would be there.
54:36The DCP operation, DCP Martin would be there.
54:39And her team, we just want you to obey the police officers as well as enjoy yourself.
54:44While you're across here, we have the Nagar and so on.
54:48Go to the celebration.
54:50Enjoy yourself.
54:51Stay within the law.
54:52And therefore, we believe if we can work together, certainly,
54:55we can see a better and safer Trinidad and Tobago.
54:58Yeah.
54:58And I think that's a very important point there.
55:01I think that sometimes we in Trinidad and Tobago,
55:04we are very, very quick to lash out instead of having a conversation.
55:09You know, and I think that is that is always very, very good.
55:13All right.
55:14Mr. Benjamin, as I said earlier, it's always good to see and speak with you.
55:18And thank you very much for coming today.
55:20We do appreciate it.
55:21Yes.
55:21You're coming on the last day.
55:23I'm here.
55:25That's a special occasion.
55:26I do want you to remain, man.
55:28I don't know.
55:29All right.
55:30Yeah.
55:31So here's what everybody.
55:32So that's going to be it for the program for today.
55:35Whitney returns on Monday.
55:37The news is up next.
55:40We do have a repeat tomorrow morning or we don't have the repeat.
55:45See you next week, everybody.
55:46Whitney will see you.
55:47Bye for now.