Armed police officers were stationed across 50 high-risk schools in Trinidad and Tobago yesterday, as Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar declared her administration would no longer tolerate escalating violence in classrooms.
“This is the beginning of the end for bullying and classroom violence,” Persad-Bissessar said in a strongly worded statement hours after the first school day under the new initiative. “Our teachers have become victims of assault and abuse by some students and parents. That will not continue. Any student or parent who abuses or assaults a member of the teaching staff will be removed from school by the TTPS.”
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The Prime Minister said too many children are living in fear of attending school because of daily bullying and violence. “To some, it is a terror to attend school. We have children failing because they are too afraid to attend school. That ends now,” she added.
Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro, who toured several south Trinidad schools including La Romaine Secondary, Gasparillo Secondary and Marabella North and South, issued his own warning. “If parents cannot control their children, the TTPS will confine them,” he said. Two officers have been assigned to each designated high-risk school, stationed for the entire school day with minimal student interaction.
Defending the decision to allow officers to carry firearms on campus, Persad-Bissessar said, “The law remains the law and TTPS officers are free to carry their firearms inside or outside of schools if it is deemed necessary. Police officers report to their TTPS seniors, not school principals. Acts of violence will be reported and dealt with according to law.”
The Commissioner echoed her stance, insisting officers needed to protect themselves as well as students and staff. “Put yourself in the place of a parent getting that call that your child is in the hospital with broken bones and lacerations,” Guevarro said. “This has happened before. If officers have to respond to threats, they must be prepared.”
Concerns have surfaced from the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) and the National Parent-Teacher Association (NPTA), who have questioned the wisdom of placing armed personnel on school grounds. Education Minister Dr. Michael Dowlath has stressed that officers will remain outside classrooms unless emergencies arise, with most equipped with non-lethal tools.
Still, the Prime Minister framed the move as part of her government’s wider battle against crime. “Schools are sacred spaces for learning, not battlegrounds. For too long, we have witnessed our beloved nation awash in blood, plagued by record murder rates, and our schools tainted by violence, drugs, and fear. Law and order is being restored.”
Parents and educators offered mixed reactions. Interim PTA president Jamie Peters at Ste Madeleine Secondary said police could make a difference if they combined firmness with understanding. A parent of a student who was severely beaten earlier this year said the trauma her daughter still carries justified the presence of armed officers.
Others worry about unintended consequences. One school safety officer described how violence had escalated to the point of fights blocking main roads and weapons being seized in bulk. “In one sweep, 13 penknives were seized,” the officer revealed.
The Commissioner confirmed the programme will be reviewed after six months. “We can’t be in all places at all times, so we are deploying resources in the smartest, most effective way possible,” he said.
For now, Persad-Bissessar is standing firm. “The people of this country have had enough — enough of school brawls, enough of wickedness in our classrooms, enough of fear in our communities,” she said. “We promised to confront school violence head-on. This is that promise being delivered.”
