Too many cars not working, says Ewatski

Out of a fleet of about 1,200 vehicles belonging to the Police Service, some 300 are not working, says Deputy Police Commissioner Jack Ewatski. Ewatski, who spoke in an interview touching on the evaluation of Western Division’s 21st-century policing initiative, said the figure could be higher.

“We are going through a major examination of our police fleet because one the concerns brought forward in Western, Central and Tobago Divisions where the initiative was launched is the deficiencies in our vehicles,” Ewatski added. He said the vehicles that were non-operational were either waiting to be repaired or could not be repaired and therefore had to be replaced.

“When you look at the number 1,200, that is a fairly substantial amount of vehicles for our Police Service,” he said. “And what we need to do is put priority on the vehicles that are being used by our patrol officers.” He said part of the examination would entail how vehicles were deployed. “We need to get a better handle on how vehicles are maintained and repaired,” he said.