6th International Conference on Evidence-Based Policing Tuesday 9th July 2013 A Homicide Hot Spots Patrol Test in Trinidad and Tobago Commissioner of Police (Ag) Stephen Williams Trinidad & Tobago

Background A sharp increase in the number of homicide cases in T&T during the last decade Over 60% attributed to gang-related activity Yet even within high-crime areas, violence in T&T tends to be concentrated in smaller, micro-level crime places – a strong justification for hotspot policing Cambridge University <> TTPS partnership

Spatial and Temporal Concentrations of Homicides in T&T n=1,662 1 Jan 2009 – 21 Jan 2013

Spatial Concentrations – Port of Spain as a case study

Aerial view of the hotspot with the highest homicide rate (n=138 in 4 years)

MOSTLY HANDGUNS!! 87.52% Robbery Shoot/wound Grand Total Hand gun 84.95% 87.14% Other firearm 3.32% 3.13% 3.30% Other weapon 2.64% 4.12% 2.86% Sawed off shot gun 0.80% 0.49% 0.76% Shot gun 5.72% 7.30% 5.95% N 12,818 2,233 15,051

The Trinidad and Tobago Homicide Hotspots Experiment

Targets and Aims Reduce Serious Crime by 50% compared to control conditions Use all 3 “Triple Ts” of Evidence Based Policing Targeting the power few Testing the Intervention through rigorous science and Tracking with GPS tracking and effective management (station-level Compstat)

Selection of Targets All Police Station Districts that have eligible hotspots within their geographic boundaries Top percentile that is responsible for most of crime and disorder in Trinidad and Tobago Excluding Laventille Focus heavily on violent crimes (shootings, woundings and homicides) and overall crime harm index Focus indirectly on all other serious street crimes Increase legitimacy of T&T Police through effective but fair procedures

Proposed Program Station-Level Compstat Every 14 days --hearts and minds, targeting predicted crime Hot Spot Patrols Hot Times—primarily in vehicles Patrol Tracking Maps for Compstat Discussion Searches for Guns Roadblocks Stop & Search

Process of Random Assignment Rank-Order all T&T Stations according to resources available (n of vehicles, manpower, etc.) and n of serious incidents in 12 months (shootings, homicides, woundings) Exclude Besson Street Police Station--all treatment * Exclude stations with fewer than 5 incidents in 12 months Random assignment of stations across districts creating 24 pairs ______ * Extreme outlier with 188 incidents; next in rank is Morvant Police Station with 49 incidents

Grade A

Tracking Patrols

GPS Tracking AVL GPS-based trackers Hand held GPS trackers Crucial: It will help us measure the link between police presence and crime As crucial: Officers’ safety!

Test driving the system:

Bi-Weekly Station-Level Compstat Common practice in T&T at Division level, but not yet at station level Ongoing feed of data from CAPA Winning the hearts and minds of officers with: Positive and negative reinforcements Quick response to issues: Discussing challenges and obstacles at the tactical level Accountability: ownership of problems at hotspots by designated officers

Outcomes N of all crimes N of homicides Tankebe’s legitimacy surveys Crime harm index

Cameras? ….

6th International Conference on Evidence-Based Policing A Homicide Hot Spots Patrol Test in Trinidad and Tobago Commissioner of Police (Ag) Stephen Williams Trinidad & Tobago