As Parliament gears up to debate the Law Reform Bill, which is meant to designate high-crime areas for security and social intervention, regional security expert Dr. Garvin Heerah says this is an appropriate follow-on to the State of Emergency.
The Bill will focus on Special Security Zones. If passed, it will provide the government with another instrument in the fight against crime.
Dr. Heerah emphasised that the legislation is designed to ensure communities remain safe.
“The key thing is legislation is related to those who are enforcing the law, and they have to understand the muscle that they have to work with, and it is also a key aspect here to not be too forceful, to understand, use your discretion and at times, work with the public. But the flip side of that, the public needs to work with law enforcement.”
Dr. Heerah pointed to the success of Zones of Special Operations (ZOSO) in Jamaica and Latin America, stressing that criminal networks often overlap across the region.
“The ZOSO is an ideal tool, once tweaked to the applicability of our cultural relevance, it will be a successful implementation, but it must be measured, it must be managed, and it must be monitored.”
Dr. Heerah added that implementing this legislation offers Trinidad and Tobago the chance to raise its security standards to international best practice.