University of the West Indies (UWI) criminology lecturer Daurius Figueira says armoured vehicles and high-tech equipment will not solve the problem of crime. But he said the interdiction of drugs and arms and the apprehension of those behind the illegal trades will. Speaking to the Sunday Guardian on Wednesday, he said, “The question arises, if you have all this equipment and are not doing any major drug and arms interdiction or making a dent in these illicit activities, what difference are you making?
“To buy such vehicles for the military is a given and was expected in the 21st century. “If you're following the Brazilian model where you go into the favelas or slums under force and you take control of them using military force, then you need armoured vehicles.” He questioned what type of policing T&T law enforcement was going to use with these vehicles.
Figueira pointed out that even when security forces moved into an area and put it under paramilitary control in Brazil, the drug trade did not end and sometimes flourished. He said the experience in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo was that members of the security forces took over the drug trade.
Figueira said the drug traders were displaced from the poor communities in the hillside and moved into the nearby suburbs to ply their illicit trade. A similar phenomenon could occur here, he added.
When asked whether the country was in such a bad state that it needed military hardware and equipment like UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), CCTV systems, marine patrol vessels, weapons, ammunition and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) for its defence, he said it showed the police were not outgunned by the criminals. Figueira said it all depended on those setting security policy and defining the threat and they were not going to make that public.
