TOBAGONIANS can expect a ten per cent reduction in serious crimes over the coming months, says newly-appointed ACP for Tobago Collis Hazel.

Hazel said he intends to meet his target by merging community policing with crime fighting tactics.

Hazel assumed the office of ACP of the Eastern and Tobago divisions on April 13.

And as head of the Eastern Division, Hazel said he intends to address issues of gangs, illegal mining and murders.

So far in 2023, Tobago has had four murders.

On average, Hazel said Tobago has had 10 murders per year over the last decade.

For this year, the first murder occurred on February 9 when gunmen killed Nigel Sandy, alias Pahjoe, an evaluator at the THA Division of Health, Wellness and Social Protection, near his Shelbourne Street Plymouth home.

The island recorded its second murder in March after a passer-by found the body of Rishi Renny Khodai, 39, of Arnos Vale Road, Plymouth. Khodai’s body was discovered on Golden Grove Road, Canaan.

Tobago’s third murder victim, Moruga resident Alex Anthony Cooper was found dead with gunshot wounds, in a drain at Glen Road, on April 9. A couple was held shortly after the crime. The woman was released and the man, Akiel Grant, 27, unemployed of Glen Road was charged for Cooper's murder.

One day before Cooper’s murder, Lynch Bovell, 49, of Sesame Street, Bethel was shot by gunmen. He later died at the Scarborough General Hospital on April 11.

In a sit-down interview on April 19, at the Riverside Plaza, Port of Spain, Hazel told Sunday Newsday under his direction, police will be coming strong with persistence and visibility “to ensure we attack the crown of where the problem exists. We are not a soft target.”

He plans to bring a type of leadership style that motivates and encourages his officers.

[caption id="attachment_1012394" align="alignnone" width="728"] New head of the Tobago Division at Riverside Plaza, Port of Spain. - ROGER JACOB[/caption]

With an open-door policy, Hazel also hopes to foster a closer relationship with the business community, private security services and the Tobago House of Assembly.

“My first move is to get a good assessment. I need to establish a strong stakeholder analysis. Some people feel the police can do it alone but the police cannot. We are going to make sure we work with the stakeholders so that we understand each other and we can work mutually to solving problems.”

In Tobago, Hazel said he has noticed only a small group of people are causing trouble.

“We are going to the root of Tobago’s problem. We have been enslaving ourselves in our home rather than working mutually with others to fight against the few. We just need to unite.

“But, admittedly, I must say we have to build trust. So it’s not going to be any honeymoon for me with anybody who are not trustworthy and are not committed to their oath of office.”

Hazel said it irks him when police officers in Tobago are not held accountable for low productivity.

“We need to put officers to work. People make reports and there’s no feedb