Corey Connelly and Narissa Fraser
CRIMINOLOGIST Darius Figuera believes there is need for a “broad-based, co-ordinated, institutionalised approach” to address murders and other violent crimes plaguing the country.
He was responding to the results of a public trust, confidence and satisfaction survey carried out by the Police Service Commission (PSC), which revealed widespread dissatisfaction among citizens with respect to the TTPS’ handling of the crime situation.
The findings, contained in the commission’s 2022 annual report, revealed that only eight per cent of the population believe the police are doing a good job in dealing with crime. The report was laid in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The commission said it conducted a 40-question-long online survey in 2022 which 2,855 people completed.
The data showed low percentages for satisfaction with customer service, overall police performance, trust in the service and its ability to address crime.
The higher percentages came from data on the respondents' fear of crime.
Most contacted the police in 2022 to report crimes, emergencies and accidents.
However, 56.6 per cent of respondents were disappointed/very disappointed by the customer service of police officers, 28.2 per cent were satisfied/very satisfied and 15.1 per cent were neutral.
On satisfaction with the police's performance, only 7.8 per cent of respondents were satisfied with "the job that the police are doing in this country."
The highest percentage under this topic was visibility of police on the highways/major roads as 32.1 per cent were satisfied with that.
In addition, satisfaction with the police's visibility in respondents' home communities was 15.6 per cent; at neighbouring communities, 19.4 per cent, and satisfaction with the amount of information police provide on safety via different media is 25.2 per cent. And again, only nine per cent were satisfied with the job the police were doing in their community.
On public trust in the police, under ten per cent felt police were committed, follow the law, are competent and respond to calls for assistance.
A total of 12.3 per cent felt police understood their community's needs and treat residents fairly and courteously.
The topic of fear of crime saw the highest percentages across all the graphs provided.
A total of 81.4 per cent were fearful of family and friends being victims of crime, with 50.4 per cent being afraid of being on the streets in their neighbourhood in the day and 72.4 per cent, at night.
Driving at night in their community was a concern for 59.7 per cent of respondents, and 56.9 per cent when it came to being in their own yard at night.
In addition, 77 per cent were fearful of being physically attacked/assaulted by a stranger in their community and 73.1 per cent of being a victim of robbery, house-breaking or home invasion.
And finally, 73.1 per cent were fearful of leaving their doors open at home while awake.
Saying people cannot continue to blame the TTPS for everything, Figuera told
