Outgoing Port of Spain mayor Joel Martinez praised the work of the city police who intercepted a robbery at New City mall, Port of Spain on Saturday.
That robbery attempt led to two men being shot. Ten men attempted to rob a businessman at the mall armed with cutlasses and guns but police were at the mall at the time and were able to confront them.
Two men were shot.
Many people have spoken on the issue of crimes, robberies and home invasions in the country.
Last week, businessman Derek Chin spoke on the issue of crime and said crime should be tackled at the root. He spoke as the head of Telecom Security Services and after guard Hasley Augustine was killed on August 17 when thieves with high-powered guns attacked four guards as they were depositing cash at an ATM in Cunupia.
Martinez said crime affects the city in a negative way and a lot of the city’s business owners were expressing their fear of the crime situation.
“Yesterday (Saturday) has brought about the fact that the criminal will do anything to achieve their target and they are very bold and brazen about it.
“Fortunately, the municipal police was about the beat and they were in the area, at that time, where they could have acted on it.
“I want to compliment the city police for the good work they have done and to encourage them to really step up and continue to do the duty of serving and protecting the city of Port of Spain,” he said.
Martinez said it was not an easy task but the country had to start somewhere and engage a very strategic position to be able to arrest the crime situation as quickly as possible to be able to bring a level of comfort back to the city.
The more positive the country tried to become, emulate the good things in life, and do its best to rid the country of negativity, it was always there permeating into the space and affected how growth and development was thought about in the country, he said.
“It (crime) is a hamper and a serious problem that has overcome not just Port of Spain but all of TT.
“However, I believe we have the human resource, the ability and attitude of our officers to make that change. I see a lot of the positive aspects of it and if we continue to work hard and get as much help from our citizens to be able to arrest the crime situation, I think we can push back on it and really make a difference,” Martinez said.
He said the city police was now at a greater strength than when he entered office.
“We have over 200 officers now. We have an opportunity to really work on it and try to arrest it bit by bit and piece by piece and every day look for small successes so we can feel something is happening on a regular basis and get into the habit of being in the right place at the right time to deal with situations like this.”
Martinez also called authorities to be aware of what was happening on the ground as well as to listen and work with the citizens of Port of Spain.
There were reports late yesterday that three of the men involved in the New City Mall incident were arrested.
In a recent
