Oops! Police not trained to use breathalyser

Trinidad and Tobago's new breathalyser law took effect Monday after years of delay with government officials saying it is just in time to catch drunk drivers ahead of the Christmas holidays.

But it turns out that it will be a while before that actually happens.

That's because police officers are yet to be trained in the use of the devices and also because all the breathalysers required to do the job have not arrived in the country.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Wayne Richards admitted the delay in an interview with the Trinidad Express but said the training will be completed "soon".

He added it was "a few days ago" that officers were informed about the type of device to be used. The equipment, he explained, is new so now that police know what they have to use, the police service is training the officers.

The paper said Richards also pointed out that not all police officers would be trained to use breathalysers but the service will train "as many as possible" throughout the country.

He said the National Security Ministry had to acquire the devices to distribute throughout all nine divisions.

"We are very anxious to have those devices in our hands throughout the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service," he said.