TTPS QUARTERLY No.1 (1)

University of Cambridge, its Institute of Criminology, and the
Cambridge Centre for Evidence-Based Policing Ltd. The
partnership began with senior officials attending the part-time
Master’s degree course at Cambridge in Applied Criminology
and Police Management, a 20-year old course that is now
attended by police leaders from all over the world. The
partnership accelerated in 2012 when Cambridge graduate
Stephen Williams was appointed to act as Commissioner of
Police.
One of Mr. Williams’ first decisions as Commissioner was to
enlist six Cambridge faculty members to train TTPS officers of
all ranks, primarily in Trinidad, as well as by recorded lectures.
In a series of courses lasting from one day to 12 weeks, the
Cambridge faculty has now trained over 500 TTPS officers.
The Cambridge academics providing the training include the
following:
• Professor Lawrence Sherman, Director of the Institute
of Criminology and Chief Executive of the Cambridge
Centre for Evidence-Based Policing;
• Dr. Heather Strang, Director, Cambridge Police
Executive Programme;
• Dr. Barak Ariel, Lecturer in Experimental
Criminology, Cambridge University;
• Dr. Justice Tankebe, University Lecturer in Criminology,
Cambridge University;
• Dr. Katrin Muller-Johnson, Senior Lecturer in Criminal
Justice, Cambridge University;
• Dr. Timothy Coupe, Lecturer in Criminal Justice,
Cambridge University
Supported by the advanced technical framework for
targeting, testing and tracking the best use of police
resources—the “Triple-T” of data-driven, evidence-based
policing--TTPS leaders have attained several major
milestones:
1. A 90-day controlled test of a strategy to reduce homicides
and shootings-woundings, comparing 20 stations using the
strategy to 20 that did not. This study concluded in late 2013,
which showed that the strategy reduced these lethal crimes
by 41% in the pilot stations compared to the 20 other stations
doing business as usual. The strategy directed police to
increase patrol time in the five or more micro-locations in
each station area where most homicides have occurred. It
also provided feedback every two weeks to the patrol teams
that were providing the patrol time, comparing the
performance of different shifts and stations.
2. A 2014 rollout of the successfully tested homicide
prevention strategy across Trinidad, based on an extensive
refinement of the Global Positioning Satellite tracking of the
whereabouts of every marked police car in the country.
3. The Commissioner’s establishment of a weekly meeting
with all Divisional commanders to review the progress in
implementing the desired patrol minutes in the
highest-violent places at the high-homicide times.
4. The six-fold increase in the average time of police patrols
per hot spot from 20 minutes to 120 minutes per day, right
across Trinidad.
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