The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service says the School-Oriented Policing Initiative has had a positive impact, and it will continue to work with school-based police officers and other stakeholders to ensure a safe and secure environment for all students, teachers, and parents.
Launched at the start of the 2025/2026 school term, the School-Oriented Policing Initiative aims to reduce incidents of school violence. The programme is a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Education and the TTPS, with specially trained officers assigned to 50 secondary schools, alongside regular patrols and support at an additional 10 secondary schools and 10 primary schools.
At a TTPS Media Briefing on Wednesday, Deputy Commissioner of Police Junior Benjamin said the School-Oriented Policing Initiative will maintain its mandate of providing support for school security officers and ensuring the safety of students and other stakeholders.
“We recognise as we seek to build that level of mentorship that the police officers are really having an impact, and therefore we can see even from this, the stats, that we are seeing that because the officers are there, that there is some level of reduction, and in some cases not just reduction but there is some mentorship taking place, and that in itself is a positive for us.”
Assistant Commissioner of Police Brian Soodeen gave further insight gathered from the initiative.
“So far, during this initiative, there has been a total of 33 arrests, student arrests. For instance, include possession of marijuana, possession of a weapon, sexual misconduct, assault on a principal, and resisting arrest. Suspensions: students suspended, amounted to 63 students thus far from September to January 28th.”
Head of the Community-Oriented Policing Section, Superintendent David Guelmo, shared some targeted interventions tailored for schools with high incidences.
“Anti-vaping campaigns, gambling awareness, conflict resolution, counselling and support, increased access to school counsellors and peer mediation to address root causes of misconduct. Parental engagement, strengthen collaboration with parents through workshops and case conferences.”
President of the National Parents’ Teachers’ Association, Walter Stewart, said his organisation will continue to work with the Ministry of Education and the TTPS. He also noted a growing concern about incidents occurring outside of the school compound and the possibility of including the initiative at other schools.
“We are looking at some other schools that we have some concerns over but of course that is the remit of the Ministry and we’re in conversation with the Ministry of Education to ensure that those schools can be addressed.”