ABSTRACT
Trinidad and Tobago’s policing system has nine large police station divisions, sixty-four smaller police station districts, and numerous branches, departments, and sections under its jurisdiction (CAPA 2011). Its national system, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), has its genesis in a system of policing that was introduced by the Spanish colonialists in 1592 (Ottley 1972) and has under its jurisdiction the Municipal Police and Special Reserve Police as well. Presently, policing in the island is conducted using the traditional policing model (British Colonial Model) as part of its later colonial legacy. Mawby (2003) noted that the British Colonial Model “was first tried in another British colony, Ireland which presupposed a lack of public consent and was used throughout British controlled Africa, Asia and the Caribbean,” inclusive of Trinidad and Tobago.
