DAVID C O'NEAL

I HAD taken a conscious and well-considered decision to rest my pen down but the recent agonizing news report of a 'Ten year old girl shot in the head' had constrained me to pick back up my golden gift pen with the objective of making a positive impact on the current killing spree which has been causing nationals to be fearful of leaving their homes to attend to their legitimate business.

Our police officers are highly competitive and well trained in matters of national security. They are cognisant that proper security is maintained principally by conducting searches and the setting up of roadblocks is testimony that they are indeed working by the book. However, it has been perceived that a roadblock loses its fire after its first ten-12 minutes and this is due to the high proliferation of cell phones and their indiscriminate usage.

It can be undeniably expressed that our loyal police officers are 'swimming against the tide.' Formerly, high-powered weapons and other uncustomed goods entered this country in the 'dead of night' by way of illegal ports but a very distressing and vexatious news report released by acting Commissioner of Police Mc Donald Jacob recently, now suggest that those illegal items enter Trinidad and Tobago in a more sophisticated manner.

Jacob chronicled to the nation that our ports and airports are compromised. This development has the potential to facilitate the increase in criminal activities and it signals to police officers that they now have before them a more arduous and difficult task as it relates to protecting and serving the nation.

Irrespective of this gross deception, the police have remained resolute in their firearm retrieval mission.

For a more effective and result-oriented method of vehicle searching, a stop-and-search unit comprising specially selected personnel, officers with their integrity in tact, should be formed. This unit should focus on vehicles on our highways and within villages and towns throughout the country. The roadblock form of searching should not be disbanded but be reserved for special situations.

The effectiveness of this initiative would be proven by the murmurings of motorists who had been pulled over and searched more than once in a 24-hour period and its frequency and publicity would have the effect of creating scepticism in the minds of gun-toting motorists in whose thoughts would be, 'What if…' Armed motorists with average intelligence would be constrained to leave their 'piece' at home.

High-performance vehicles due to their incredible speed appear to be the main facilitator of shooting deaths in the country and it may now seem obsolete to reflect on a shooter emerging from a track or from nearby bushes.

Drive-by and other vehicle-assisted shootings which have been long gaining traction have now excelled in prominence in the country and many strategies employed by past and present administrations to stem this scourge have failed to make a dent.

Throwing hands in the air is not an option for the Minister of