efence force reserves called out as government steps up crime fight

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Jan 19, CMC – Security officials on Wednesday announced strategies in the fight against crime as the country has recorded 27 murders since the start of the year.
At a joint press conference on Wednesday, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon and acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams, outlined the plans that included the call out of the reserves of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force.
“The T&T Defence Force has called out its reserves to treat with not only the immediate issues but to assure visitors during the Carnival period that they are safe and secure. The T&T Police Service also called out additional members of the special reserved police officers to also boost in terms of numbers,” said Dillion.
Concerning a DNA database, Al-Raqwi said discussions are being held with the view to establishing a DNA Register and this will start with taking the DNA samples and putting it on the data base of the entire prison population .
“Having a proper functional DNA register gives a better chance at detection prosecution and conviction because the evidence will be available.”
He also revealed that they are nearly finished mapping the entire backlog of criminal cases in the High Court, which will be available at the end of this month, and also the backlog exercise in the magistracy.
Al-Rawi said it was important to manage cases in the prisons, “to make sure the at the prison talking to judiciary, the judiciary talking to police, the police talking to prosecutorial arms of T&T and that talking to the defence counsel.”
“Our system has been broken because there has been silos of operation where the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing and intelligence has not been shared and we are very pleased to say we have made big steps in the right direction,” Al-Rawi said.
He also said steps are being made  to  address the manpower shortages at the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Williams, in his statement, said that the manpower of Homicide Investigative Department had been doubled and officers from that unit have benefited from basic investigative techniques and advance investigative techniques.