Riot police outside the St. James amphitheatre during the 2009 Drummit2Summit event in Trinidad and Tobago. Photo by Georgia Popplewell on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

Imagine a police officer in Trinidad and Tobago who walks the bustling community of St. James three times a week, stopping by corner shops, checking in with elders, and taking time to talk with the young people on the basketball court. This image stands in stark contrast to the reality, in which police presence is often perceived as an occupying force more likely to escalate tensions than ease them.

In a region still grappling with deep public distrust in law enforcement, however, embedding community policing as a cornerstone of citizen security could be a game changer. As opposed to simply technical reform, this approach offers a recalibration of relationships between police and the communities they serve. Far from being “soft” or cosmetic, community policing can be a strategically effective tool for addressing citizen security challenges in Trinidad and Tobago and across the region.

A broken contract

In many Caribbean countries, policing has carried a colonial legacy of enforcement over service, extraction over protection. Add decades of gang violence, corruption and structural inequality, and you get the combustible tension between uniformed authority and marginalised communities. For many citizens in state-described urban “hotspots” — from Jamaica at the top of the archipelago to Trinidad at its base, calling the police feels less like a right and more like a gamble.

This distrust isn’t imagined — and it isn’t new. The 2012 UNDP Caribbean Human Development Report noted low levels of citizen trust in police and formal justice systems across the region, while a 2023 Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Commission survey showed low public trust in the police service, with less than 25 percent of respondents expressing positive trust across areas such as fairness, responsiveness and competence.

Similarly, a December 2023 study conducted by the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean and the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry found that, in one Jamaican parish, only 20 percent of residents across 43 communities believed the police could be trusted.

Similar dynamics play out in favelas in Brazil, banlieues in France, and neighbourhoods in South Africa, not to mention the legacy of militarism in Latin American policing. What makes the Caribbean distinct, however, is its scale and proximity — the margins are never far from the centre. A breakdown in trust in one community quickly ripples outward, affecting tourism, governance and national identity. A breakdown in trust in one community can extend into others, leading to underreporting and directly affecting daily life.

Reframing community policing

While not new to the region, community policing can become hollowed out — relegated to photo ops, school visits or underfunded and unsustainable projects. Over a decade ago, local police foot patrols, though not part of any formal community policing, engaged with residents and maintained a visible presence. In some jurisdictions, municipal officers often stepped in to fill the gaps, fostering more direct community ties through proximity and knowledge.

In Trinidad and Tobago, these strategies were bolstered by the Community Comfort Patrols, an initiative aimed at bringing even more reassurance into neighbourhoods. Unfortunately, it was discontinued. The ability of the police to truly connect with communities through foot patrols and other engagement strategies cannot be overstated. In Jamaica in 2020, a COVID-19 relief effort revealed that some officers met residents face-to-face for the first time while delivering relief packages, despite being assigned there for months.

Police youth clubs have long stood as one of the avenues for police community interactions. In Trinidad and Tobago, they’ve offered various development and skills-building opportunities, guided by officers and supported at times by corporate partners. However, limited and decreased funding, coupled with infrastructure deficits, have undermined their reach and vitality.

Given the climate of distrust, a more intentional shift that embeds community engagement into core law enforcement strategies has the potential to focus on proactive engagement, problem solving and partnerships — approaches that international research has shown can enhance legitimacy and reduce crime.

In Jamaica, for instance, the Community Safety and Security Branch of the Jamaica Constabulary Force provides a blueprint that could be adapted regionally. Key principles of community policing — including visibility, accessibility, and relationship building — align with the urgent need for law enforcement to be seen not only as enforcers but also as partners in public safety.

Caribbean police services could explore assigning dedicated community officers to specific districts, establishing regular listening posts or neighbourhood walkabouts, and investing in social media engagement to humanise their presence. Barbados’ 2024 rebranding of its police service, which included enhanced digital outreach, demonstrates how such shifts can form part of broader trust-building efforts.

The Community Policing section of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) introduced WhatsApp-based alert systems. It has also partnered with civil society groups for conflict resolution workshops and other initiatives, supporting the emerging philosophy of long-term presence over short-term raids.

Success is measured in relationships

This type of policing, however, doesn’t easily lend itself to metrics. Traditional performance indicators, such as arrests, weapons seized, and operations conducted, do not capture the nuances of changing perceptions or building community trust.

Yet, that shift from fear to expectation is the real measure of success. It changes how people see themselves in relation to the state, renegotiates the contract between the state and citizens, makes room for accountability, and regards safety as a collective project. This brand of legitimacy is earned through repeated presence, fair treatment, and responsiveness. Criminologist Anthony Harriott, who is also a professor at The University of the West Indies, has long emphasised that legitimacy and procedural justice are critical in settings where coercive policing undermines long-term security.

The internal balancing act

This approach requires a new kind of police officer, one equipped with cultural competency, emotional intelligence and conflict de-escalation skills. Many current training programmes in the region, however, still prioritise compliance over communication. Initiatives such as the CARICOM IMPACS Regional Crime Observatory and the former USAID Community, Family and Youth Resilience (CFYR) programme have highlighted the need for more robust training in trauma-informed policing and institutional support.

Community policing cannot succeed in a silo; officers need internal buy-in, proper resourcing and protection from punitive backlash when applying discretion. The organisational culture of police forces, often shaped by hierarchy and rigidity, therefore needs to evolve to support his model.

Trust is the long game

Community policing is not a cure-all, and it doesn’t erase the social conditions that produce violence. However, its emphasis on the co-production of safety between citizens and police officers offers a promising counterbalance to purely enforcement-driven strategies.

It also invites law enforcement agencies to move beyond reactive crime response toward prevention, dialogue, and accountability. Trust may build slowly, but once it takes root, it reshapes what people expect from both the police and the society around them. As public trust metrics continue to trend alarmingly low, this model deserves a prominent place in the regional conversation on citizen security.