Police officers are suffering from burn out, with many working double shifts to supplement a shortage of personnel.

This is according to Deputy Commissioner of Police Mc Donald Jacob, who said at a media conference this afternoon that the  Trinidad and Tobago Police Service is short of some 1,000 officers needed to operate more efficiently. At present, the TTPS has some 6,700 officers.

The shortage, he lamented, was due to several factors, including a reduction in the number of recruits, older officers leaving for retirement and officers being placed in quarantine as a result of the pandemic.

He added that even as the State of Emergency ends this month, a policing strategy will have to be implemented for the upcoming busy Christmas season.

Meanwhile, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds said the concerns will be taken to Cabinet.

“As the Prime Minister said….the government has no interest in extending the SOE arrangement. With the opening up of society, without the curfew and restrictions…[there is] an anticipation that those who are criminally minded are most certainly waiting to exhale,” he said.

“I was happy as the DCP indicated that the police service is acting in anticipation of that and is putting measures in place. I can now return to the Cabinet and inform them that the police service is mindful of the possibilities and has begun plans to ensure they can manage the situation post the removal of those restrictions.”