A growing coalition of Trinidad and Tobago’s leading business advocacy groups has joined the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA) to issue a collective urgent warning that surging criminal activity is exacerbating severe economic strains already weighing on the country’s commercial sector.
As Chief Strategic Officer of the Confederation of Regional Business Chambers (CRBC) Angie Jairam outlined, local enterprises were already navigating a landscape of heightened operational costs, supply chain frictions, and constrained consumer spending before the recent spike in security concerns. A pervasive atmosphere of public insecurity now risks triggering cascading harm across the entire economy: wary residents may avoid non-essential travel, cut back on in-person shopping, restrict their hours of operation, or skip discretionary outings entirely. This shift in public behavior ripples outward, eroding business revenues, forcing layoffs, undermining consumer confidence, and threatening the livelihoods of thousands of households that rely on commercial and retail activity for income.
Jairam is calling on the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) to step up targeted interventions to curb rising criminality, emphasizing that consistent, highly visible police patrols across residential neighborhoods and high-traffic commercial districts are non-negotiable. She also highlighted the need for more proactive intelligence gathering, rapid response to public safety reports, and rigorous, transparent investigations that ensure perpetrators are brought swiftly to justice to rebuild public trust in law enforcement systems. Beyond formal police action, Jairam urged ordinary citizens and business operators to adopt heightened vigilance: individuals handling large cash sums should avoid drawing unwanted attention, vary their regular routines, and engage licensed, reputable security services for high-risk cash transport when necessary. Businesses that process large volumes of cash transactions are advised to conduct full audits of their existing security protocols, and adopt secure, audited cash handling and banking practices to reduce vulnerability. For residential households, Jairam recommended reinforcing all entry points, staying alert for suspicious activity, and refraining from sharing public details about personal travel plans or high-value possessions online. Anyone who suspects they are being followed or encounters a dangerous scenario is advised to prioritize personal safety, avoid direct confrontation, and contact law enforcement immediately once they are in a secure location. Jairam also cautioned the public against taking vigilante action or circulating unsubstantiated safety claims on social media, urging all community members to report unusual activity exclusively through official, verified police channels. She stressed that crime reduction is a shared responsibility spanning private security firms, community nonprofits, business associations, and ordinary residents: coordinated collaboration, responsible information sharing, and timely reporting will help law enforcement identify emerging threats far faster and deploy resources more effectively. Crucially, Jairam emphasized that public safety is no longer a narrow law enforcement issue, but a cross-cutting national priority that shapes Trinidad and Tobago’s social cohesion, long-term economic stability, and overall quality of life. She rejected the normalization of fear and daily insecurity, calling for urgent, coordinated action from the TTPS, national security authorities, the private security industry, business operators, and ordinary citizens to safeguard communities and restore confidence that people can live and run enterprises safely across the country.
Kiran Singh, President of the Greater San Fernando Area Chamber of Commerce, echoed this framing, arguing that public safety must be treated as a core economic priority rather than a secondary law and order concern. Singh noted that rising crime has already driven a sharp shift in public behavior, with most residents now reluctant to leave their homes after dark. When consumers feel unsafe, they cut back on visits to downtown shopping districts, shift more purchases to online platforms, and only frequent locations they perceive as low-risk. This exodus of foot traffic hits small family-owned businesses, local restaurants, and neighborhood service providers the hardest. Singh added that persistent common crimes including armed robberies, shoplifting, commercial break-ins, and vehicle theft are creating cascading secondary costs for local enterprises: business owners are now forced to divert limited operating budgets to security guards, surveillance camera systems, and physical property reinforcements, further squeezing margins at a time when energy, rent, and supply chain costs are already rising. Many operators also report deep anxiety for the safety of their frontline staff, particularly employees who open stores early in the morning or lock up after closing late at night. Singh proposed that deploying permanent, staffed police posts at high-traffic strategic locations across commercial zones would create a visible deterrent to push criminal elements out of retail districts.
Baldath Maharaj, President of the Chaguanas Chamber of Commerce, noted that even as consumers still need to purchase essential goods and complete routine errands, they have become far more cautious during in-person trips, rushing to complete their shopping before dark and avoiding all non-essential evening outings. This sharp drop in foot traffic during traditionally high-revenue peak evening hours has dealt a major blow to the local retail, food service, and personal service sectors. Maharaj described the cumulative cost of security upgrades as an “invisible tax” on local business owners: the large sums enterprises now spend on private security patrols, high-definition CCTV systems, and reinforced storefronts directly eat into profit margins, with many businesses forced to pass those extra costs on to consumers to stay operational. While local shoppers have not stopped visiting commercial areas entirely, pervasive fear of crime has clearly suppressed commercial activity and shortened the traditional operating hours for most local businesses. Maharaj added that persistent street-level snatch-and-grab thefts, armed robberies targeting staff and patrons during opening and closing shifts, and after-hours commercial break-ins remain top concerns for merchants, alongside a rising pattern of extortion demands for “protection money” that has created a pervasive culture of intimidation discouraging new entrepreneurs from launching ventures in the area. Many local businesses are now adopting digital point-of-sale payment systems to reduce the volume of cash stored on premises, a measure that has provided a small measure of reassurance but cannot fully eliminate security risks. To address these overlapping challenges, Maharaj called for expanded sustained police patrols, citywide upgraded CCTV coverage across all busy shopping hubs, and formalized, ongoing partnerships between law enforcement and local business associations to keep commercial districts safe for patrons, staff, and operators.
Abrahim Ali, President of the San Juan Business Association, reported a measurable recent surge in petty criminal offenses including theft and after-hours commercial break-ins across the San Juan business district. Ali noted that an existing collaborative initiative between the San Juan Business Association and the Northeastern Division of the TTPS already maintains visible daytime police patrols across the area, and the recent revival of the San Juan Police Council has created a formal structured space for two-way dialogue between community members, business operators, and law enforcement to share real-time safety information and prevent crime escalation. Ali urged other business districts across the country to replicate this community-law enforcement collaborative model to reduce local crime rates.
‘Crime hits business confidence, trade’
