With the staging of the 2024 Carnival around the corner, and crime and safety a major concern representatives from the T&T Police Service (TTPS) and the entertainment sector met with the Minister of National Security recently to discuss revised security protocols.
This comes on the heels of a recent murder at the Queen’s Park Savannah, a threat by labourers on the Carnival booths to down tools if they don’t have security and a decision by bpTT to pull the plug on an entertainment space at the Paddock area entrance due to the rising crime.
A media release from the Ministry of National Security yesterday revealed that officials from the National Carnival Commission (NCC), Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, the T&T Promoters’ Association (TTPA) and the Port-of-Spain City Corporation and the police attended the meeting on Monday.
In the release, ACP Kelvern Thompson said new security initiatives will be added to the current slew of police strategies to ensure the safety of citizens and visitors alike as the height of the Carnival season approaches.
“Some of these strategies were put in place last year and were successful. We are working with the NCC and other bodies, and with our colleagues in national security, to implement more targeted measures this year,” Thompson said.
The initiatives include monitoring of CCTV platforms at the sites of different events, weekly meetings in the lead-up to the main Carnival revelry and stronger partnerships between police operational units like the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF), the CID and gang units to quell security threats.