Piarco gets state of the art police station

officially open: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, third left, cuts the ribbon to open the Piarco Police Station on Wednesday at Golden Grove Road, Piarco. Looking on from left are UdeCOTT managing director Jerlean John, acting sergeant Jennifer Crawford, acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams, Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal and Legal Affairs Minister Prakash Ramadhar. —Photo: STEPHEN DOOBAY

Minister of Housing and Urban Development Dr Roodal Moonilal says to ensure that police officers are efficiently trained and equipped to enable functionality at the highest calibre, new police stations have been provided with the following:

1.In-house lecture rooms

2. Library

3. Gymnasium stacked with the latest equipment and impact resistant flooring

4. Appropriate dormitories for male and female officers

5. Laundry room

6. Prayer room

7. Private office for counselling.

A spanking new $39 million state of the art police station was officially opened on Wednesday in Piarco.

This is the second by the People’s Partnership Government in four years, the first being in Arima.

Moonilal praised UDeCOTT chairman Jerlean John and her team and consultant Bouygues Batiment for delivering the police station on time and within budget.

The total cost of the police station was $39,896,055.20 which covered design, building, equipment and outfitting.

Speaking at the official opening of the station, Moonilal said construction started in July 2012 and  was essentially completed in 16  months. In January this year testing started and the keys were handed over to the police in February, he said.

Moonilal said the Piarco police station follows the design prototype including some common and unique functional areas.

He said these include public reception lobbies, private statement rooms, hi-tech armory, fingerprinting rooms, victim recovery rooms, library with multimedia facilities and internet access, offices for officers, dormitories, gyms, community rooms and kitchens, among others.

The Minister said typically, the police stations will have cells and juvenile holding rooms to ensure young offenders are kept separate from adult offenders/suspects.

He said cells and processing areas for offenders will be accessed via separate, secured vehicle areas and standard sally ports.

Moonilal said new police stations are being equipped with ID parade facilities with one-way vision glass, sound proof, and intercoms for communicating with persons on parade. He said there are separate entry and exit points to holding rooms for persons entering the ID parade to facilitate the isolation and protection of witnesses.

Viewing rooms, he said, also enable confidentiality when interviews are being conducted in statement rooms, as there is one-way glass for observing/monitoring interviews, with the space being sound proofed with a camera.

He said further that in line with the policy of the police service to involve community members in the prevention of and combating crime, stations will all be  equipped with a large community meeting room.

EXPRESS