The first thing that catches my eye as I enter the Crown Point Police Station is a sign handwritten in thick dark marker on a white piece of paper tacked to a noticeboard: “When we work we just worked. When we pray God works.” Near to it, amidst a few other flyers with various kinds of info (cakes, a fete, sketches of criminals, a legal notice...) is a printed message: “Help people reach their full potential. Catch them doing something right.”
On a table to the lower right of the noticeboard is a wooden suggestion box. I wonder what kinds of suggestions are received and if the implementation of any of them has resulted in the station being as welcoming as it feels to me now.
The interior is clean and quiet and the policemen and policewomen (a good balance of male and female) have pleasant expressions and seem to be in good moods. Could it be because there is less crime in Tobago than in Trinidad? Or did someone once slip a suggestion into the little wooden box saying “Smile”? In what appears to be “business as usual,” various officers are smiling as they chat with each other, sit at their desks working quietly or walk around the room carrying out their duties.
