By NALINEE SEELAL Friday, September 5 2008

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As the country’s murder toll advances to the 400 mark, Acting Commissioner of Police James Philbert has ordered his most senior officers to a three-day retreat in Tobago to come up with a plan that will put the brakes on out of control crime.

Fourteen members of the police executive and the heads of the human resource, administration, information technology and administrative services departments have all been summoned to the retreat which starts today, from 8 am, at Le Grand Courlan Resort & Spa, Black Rock, Tobago. The retreat ends on Sunday. Philbert and his team are expected to draft a new strategy to replace the anti-crime plans developed by American criminologist Prof Stephen Mastrofski, who was recruited by the Government in 2005.

Mastrofski’s team had received a $5.7 million allocation to develop these measures. Sources said Philbert intends to implement the strategies that are to be hammered out at the retreat from as early as next Tuesday.

Media Relations Manager of the Police Service Wendy Campbell yesterday confirmed the retreat was taking place and said it was part of the transformation process for the service. Philbert is expected to chair special lectures by motivational and management experts before getting down to drafting new anti-crime initiatives.

Sources added that Philbert came up with the theme “Changing the way we do things” for the retreat, reflecting his views on the need to develop new leadership and management rules.

Philbert wants the service to be more people-oriented and on the law enforcement side, he has a plan to rid the country of illegal guns, sources said.

Philbert is also said to be alarmed by the spate of gun-related homicides. Several killings this past week have taken the murder toll to 361. Sources said Philbert intends to lead a more aggressive fight against crime in all police divisions.

He is expected to instruct officers to go on more patrols rather than sit in stations waiting for distress calls from the public. Philbert has previously hinted that under his leadership the service will be run differently. His goal is to restore public confidence in the service.

Sources added local law enforcement officers believe Mastrofski’s plans have failed. The Mastrofski team had promised an improvement in the protection of the public from violent crimes.

Some of Mastrofski’s initiatives included measures to improve the interception of illegal guns at sea, port security, intelligence on youth gangs and witness protection.