Above: Trinidad National Security Minister Jack Warner (FP)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Trinidad and Tobago’s cabinet has approved $45.39 million USD for the country’s fight against crime, National Security Minister Jack Warner announced Thursday.

The funding will be used to improve the police service, he said.

“There will be the full-time establishment of 5,000 Special Reserve Police Officers,” Warner said. “We shall also establish police community support groups in all nine police divisions. These SRPs will be placed in all nine police divisions.”

Additionally, Trinidad’s government will be introducing new information technology solutions to assist in crime detection, and will be buying 300 new vehicles for police officers.

“This would allow officers to take home the vehicles,” he said.

The country, which has already signed an agreement with the Organization of American States on firearms marking, said it will soon create a database to allow for the registration of all weapons in the country.

That will be done with the help of the United Nations, according to Warner.

“Following this, elements will be given to the public,” he said. “This country shall begin a new era of safety and security.”

Warner is in his second full month as Trinidad’s National Security Minister, following a cabinet reshuffle in late June.

He had previously served as Trinidad’s Works Minister.

Trinidad is continuing to struggle with a regional trend of increased crime. Last August, it declared a State of Emergency aimed at mitigating the problem. It lasted from August 2011 to November 2011.