Head of the North Central Division Snr Supt Brian Ramphall is calling on parents to step up and better regulate the activities of their children particularly after dark as he warned liming then could be the start of delinquency.

Ramphall made the call during a police town hall meeting at the Hillview College auditorium, Tunapuna, on Thursday night.

The North Central Division consists of St Joseph, Curepe, Tunapuna, Piarco, Arouca and Trincity.

Ramphall said he saw cases of young men and women liming at night while he was out on patrol and this has led to his concern about a lack of supervision from parents.

He added that when police stop to question these liming young people, the parents would often accuse the officers of harassment.

"It pains me a whole lot when I pass on a patrol on a Tuesday night and see a 13-year-old who is supposed to be studying, is outside at 10 o'clock in the night sitting on a bench doing what I would describe as 'gaping'.

"We would stop and ask him, 'son, what you doing here?' and a parent would come out of a house and say, 'all you only harassing my son. He doing nothing, he just liming.'

"That's how it starts. You sit down there gaping by yourself and then people join you and you all start a conversation. You would join the group for the first time and guess what, you're a guinea pig.

"Someone would would hand you a $20 and say go down the road to buy some weed. When the police show up and you get arrested, you have nobody to blame but yourself."

Ramphall said parents have a responsibility to recognise anti-social behaviour and take steps to prevent it from escalating into criminal activities.

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