ACTING Commissioner of Police McDonald Jacob on Thursday presented monetary awards to divisional heads in recognition of their firearm and ammunition recovery efforts.

In a release, the police said the ceremony was held to acknowledge the efforts of officers of all divisions which led to the retrieval of 497 firearms and over 9,500 rounds of ammunition from January to August 31.

Jacob commended the hard work of the officers in achieving this feat and recognised the contribution of other units, including the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and the Traffic and Highway Patrol Branch.

The release said Jacob was confident with the ongoing efforts, the police service would meet its target of removing at least 1,000 firearms from the streets by the end of 2021.

The release said the firearms recovered were involved in at least 86 per cent of violent crimes.

The four-part gun control initiative of the police service involves: recognition of divisions based on the number of firearms and ammunition recovered; the partnership between the police and Crime Stoppers, launched last month, that encourages members of the public to provide information; an increase in the efficiency of work done by the special evidence recovery unit that will receive all guns recovered; and ballistic analysis by the Forensic Science Centre which will assist in improving detection rates and lowering the number of violent crimes involving the use of firearms.

Also present at the award ceremony at the Police Administration Building in Port of Spain were deputy Commissioners Joanne Archie, Erla Christopher, and Pamela Schullera-Hinds along with ACPs Yusuff Gaffar and Beverly Rodriguez.