She spoke with reporters at her Siparia constituency office, where she distributed National Self-help Grants to assist residents with minor home repairs.
"We have been working on a holistic way of fighting crime," she said, adding that the police will be placing emphasis on finding the criminals.
"It has to do with the law enforcement, the law enforcement agencies of the State, that is to say that you enforce the law, you find criminals," Persad-Bissessar said.
The Prime Minister noted that there have been fewer murders this year than in 2009 but the numbers are still too high. And she said a lower murder toll in that context is not any reason for jubilation.
Last year, there were 509 murders. So far the figures show 473 people have been murdered in 2010.
The Prime Minister said poverty reduction in the more vulnerable areas is an integral part of her crime plan. “Those are the areas of primary concern, where we can nip the criminal before the criminal becomes a criminal,” Persad-Bissessar said.
She said her government aims to address this challenge by providing opportunities through education, social services delivery and community development. That's stage one; the second is finding the criminal, she said.
“Today I believe the secondary level is the most important and that secondary level has to be the higher visibility of police and law enforcement officers out there and the greater enforcement of the law itself...and so as we continue to work with law enforcement officers in each sector, there are specific details, some of them can be disclosed to the public, some will not be disclosed to the public,” she said.
The third level of the crime plan is the Judiciary. Persad-Bissessar said, "We have to go at the level of the Judiciary as well and give the support to the judiciary, such as is necessary to improve the administration of justice in Trinidad and Tobago.”
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