Cabinet has approved the recommendation of the Minister of National Security to increase the strength of the First Division of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service by 24 new posts, National Security Minister Martin Joseph announced yesterday.

Joseph also said that three of six offshore patrol vessels are in the country and are going through sea trials. They will soon be unveiled, he said.

Speaking at yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s, Joseph said the First Division would now have one additional assistant commissioner, five additional senior superintendents, eight additional superintendents and ten additional superintendents.

Joseph said the Commissioner of Police had proposed to have these positions deployed throughout the country, including the Inter-agency Task Force Command Centre and certain special projects. He said the CoP has also indicated that the initiative is meant to elevate current management and supervision within the service, particularly with regard to essential operational aspects of crime-fighting efforts.

He said it is also intended to facilitate the succession planning process by capturing the competencies of highly-skilled officers who would otherwise be lost to attrition should they not be elevated to higher office.

At the present time, the executive arm consists of one CoP, two deputy CoPs, ten assistant CoPs, 22 senior superintendents, superintendents and 63 assistant superintendents.

Joseph said he was not satisfied that DNA and other scientific forensic methods were being used sufficiently in the fight against crime. He said SAUTT was currently conducting training programmes to bring law enforcement officers in step with some of the modern methods.

-Ria Taitt