The story below has been reproduced unedited from the Vancouver Sun
EDMONTON — A former Edmonton police superintendent is at the helm of the police force in Trinidad and Tobago as the Caribbean country tries to curb a violent crime rate that has claimed more than 200 lives so far this year.
Dwayne Gibbs was a 30-year veteran at the Edmonton Police Service when he was hired last year as police commissioner for the island nation that is perhaps better known as a tropical vacation destination than a hotbed of crime.
But Gibbs, 56, arrived in the country in a year that saw 472 homicides. At 1.3 million residents, the population of Trinidad and Tobago is not much greater than that of the greater Edmonton region.
The Canadian had done enough research so he was not surprised by the soaring homicide statistics when he arrived in 2010.
"But you don't realize how ingrained it is in society (until you move there)," Gibbs said in an interview Wednesday.
The commissioner was speaking about a month after the Trinidad and Tobago government declared a state of emergency that local media have said was prompted by the government's desire to take drastic measures to tackle a spike in gang activity.
Curfews have been declared, police have been granted expanded powers of arrest, and the country's military has been given some policing powers.
Gibbs said homicides are often tied to the guns and drugs that flow through the country's ports.
"A lot of it is tied into local gangs, part of it is social issues, and we're kind of a hub between South America and the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, and Africa."
A major focus of the recent crackdown has been to close off borders and seize firearms and drugs — including the contraband that's already in the country and the supplies that are trying to get through, Gibbs said.
Part of Gibbs's 30-year career in Edmonton was spent working in the drug section. He said Edmonton is also a kind of "gateway" for criminal activities headed to the northern part of the province. Skills such as sifting through data intelligence and analyzing gang organizations can be applied in both Alberta's capital and Trinidad and Tobago, he said.
While the crime crackdown and detailed investigative work have received headlines in recent weeks, Gibbs said a big part of his job has been to help take the police force "into the 21st century." That can come down to lower-profile tasks such as upgrading the force's technology so it can employ a modern dispatch system, developing a consistent system to record and file complaints to police, and developing a strong curriculum in the country's police training academies.
As a foreigner, Gibbs said he has taken some flak from people who think Trinidad and Tobago doesn't need an outsider to tackle the crime problem. On the other hand, there have been supporters who say the country's crime rate needs outside intervention.
"The debate went on before I came in and it still rages today," he said.
The second-in-command at the national police service is Jack Ewatski, the former Winnipeg police chief.
Gibbs applied for the job after spotting an advertisement in a magazine targeted at Canadian police chiefs. The government of Trinidad and Tobago had advertised in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
With his children grown and his wife able to join him in the Caribbean, Gibbs said he was in the right place in life to accept the three-year contract when it was offered.
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
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Former Edmonton police superintendent Dwayne Gibbs, now police commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago. Photograph by: Jason Scott, Edmonton Journal |
Dwayne Gibbs was a 30-year veteran at the Edmonton Police Service when he was hired last year as police commissioner for the island nation that is perhaps better known as a tropical vacation destination than a hotbed of crime.
But Gibbs, 56, arrived in the country in a year that saw 472 homicides. At 1.3 million residents, the population of Trinidad and Tobago is not much greater than that of the greater Edmonton region.
The Canadian had done enough research so he was not surprised by the soaring homicide statistics when he arrived in 2010.
"But you don't realize how ingrained it is in society (until you move there)," Gibbs said in an interview Wednesday.
The commissioner was speaking about a month after the Trinidad and Tobago government declared a state of emergency that local media have said was prompted by the government's desire to take drastic measures to tackle a spike in gang activity.
Curfews have been declared, police have been granted expanded powers of arrest, and the country's military has been given some policing powers.
Gibbs said homicides are often tied to the guns and drugs that flow through the country's ports.
"A lot of it is tied into local gangs, part of it is social issues, and we're kind of a hub between South America and the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, and Africa."
A major focus of the recent crackdown has been to close off borders and seize firearms and drugs — including the contraband that's already in the country and the supplies that are trying to get through, Gibbs said.
Part of Gibbs's 30-year career in Edmonton was spent working in the drug section. He said Edmonton is also a kind of "gateway" for criminal activities headed to the northern part of the province. Skills such as sifting through data intelligence and analyzing gang organizations can be applied in both Alberta's capital and Trinidad and Tobago, he said.
While the crime crackdown and detailed investigative work have received headlines in recent weeks, Gibbs said a big part of his job has been to help take the police force "into the 21st century." That can come down to lower-profile tasks such as upgrading the force's technology so it can employ a modern dispatch system, developing a consistent system to record and file complaints to police, and developing a strong curriculum in the country's police training academies.
As a foreigner, Gibbs said he has taken some flak from people who think Trinidad and Tobago doesn't need an outsider to tackle the crime problem. On the other hand, there have been supporters who say the country's crime rate needs outside intervention.
"The debate went on before I came in and it still rages today," he said.
The second-in-command at the national police service is Jack Ewatski, the former Winnipeg police chief.
Gibbs applied for the job after spotting an advertisement in a magazine targeted at Canadian police chiefs. The government of Trinidad and Tobago had advertised in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
With his children grown and his wife able to join him in the Caribbean, Gibbs said he was in the right place in life to accept the three-year contract when it was offered.
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
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