Sacrificing quality for quantity. That was how president of the Police Service Social and Welfare Association Insp Anand Ramesar summed up the training of police officers. He said if modern policies were not implemented to train police recruits there would be more incidents like that of the shooting of PC Kashyap Lochan and even worse. At the same time, Ramesar commended Lochan, who has been in the service for only seven months, for displaying dedication and bravery in the line of duty.
Ramesar said an examination of the incident involving Lochan showed the service sorely lacked proper policies. He said back in the 1980s, officers underwent some 18 months of training—six months in what was known as the Police Barracks, six months on the job and six months back in the barracks, with one month of vacation. Now a person undergoes six months of training to become a police officer and six weeks for a Special Reserve Police.
“The training is more academic than actual physical training. A lot of the drills have been cut out. “When we evaluate it, we recognised that the organisation lacks policies and proper modules when it comes to training and development that is structured to providing the relevant competencies for police officers,” Ramesar said. He said simulation exercises must be a part of the training process if the service was expected to produce quality officers.
“The Commissioner of Police needs to put proper modules in place when it comes to training. We need the simulation training that is taking place in first world countries like that of New York. “We need to look at those countries where policing and best practices operate. We need to bring real training where officers would be faced with dangers like close combat and real shooting situations,” Ramesar added.
He said such recommendations were made to acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams but were yet to be implemented. Executive members of the association are expected to meet with Williams early next week and top on the agenda is the issue of training. At the weekly press briefing held at the Police Administration building in Port-of-Spain yesterday, public information officer Supt Joanne Archie said the service was faced with challenges, but this would not deter officers from carrying out their duties.
She said members of the public needed to be reminded that crime was not a static phenomenon but rather dynamic. “The guarantee I would give members of the public is that the police officers would continue in all their initiatives to ensure crime is reduced and the fear of crime is also reduced.
“The public’s fear needs to be allayed. In some areas we have had some successes but we are also saying we need to do more. When we look at our statistics and feedback from members of the public we agree there is so much more to do and which we are working on,” Archie added. She said many of the investigations which were solved were based on information from the public.
On the issue of training, she said, officers in their line of duty were faced with combatting lawlessness. “We are aware of what is happening and it is not the first time one of our officers have been shot. “We continue to train our officers and ensure they are equipped when they go out there to deal with crime and the lawlessness that pervades,” Archie said. When contacted, DCP Simon Alexis, who is the provost at the Police Training Academy, in St James, said he was in a meeting and could not comment.
Griffith: Simulation training for police soon
Minister of National Security Gary Griffith said arrangements were being made to have simulation training organised for all police officers through the Ministry of National Security Training Academy. “We will be getting an indoor shooting range. We have to do the tender process for this. We will also have simulation training to give the officers the opportunity to look at different scenarios based on the threat.
“We will train them to use minimal force. They will be trained in how to use verbal persuasion and then the baton, then pepper spray and tasers before using their firearm. There will be drills for proper operation,” he said. Griffith said training directors went to the Waterloo Training College, in the United States, last year for training in dealing with all scenarios including road blocks, vehicle searches, car chases, aggressive confrontations, and customer service.