An Opposition MP believes adding 1,000 officers will mean nothing if there are no improvements to the management of the Police Service.

During yesterday’s Budget presentation, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the Top Cop had been asked to triple the intake of recruits, from 300 per year to 1,000 in 2024.

Naparima MP Rodney Charles believes that T&T needs first world recruitment, training, promotion, management and procurement strategies for the TTPS.

He also pointed to a 2017 Report of the Police Manpower Audit Committee, which said the TTPS was more than adequately staffed at that time, with a ratio of 494 officers per 100,000 Population.

He says the report also outlined a need for “more effective utilisation of the available manpower resources.”