REDTRAC to be Expanded

The Regional Drug Law Enforcement Training Centre (REDTRAC), based at the National Police College in Twickenham Park, St. Catherine, is to be expanded to meet the demand for additional space for training.

Director/Principal, Major George Benson, said the project involves the addition of another floor in order to have more rooms.

“When this is done, we will be able to accommodate two or more courses running at the same time,” he said at a JIS Think Tank on Friday (January 13).

He informed that bids were received in December and are being analysed to get the development under way.

Major Benson told JIS News that the institution “has the most sought-after law-enforcement and training courses in the region” and the expansion will address the lack of space and allow more persons to enrol in the institution.

“Every year, there is a waiting list, and we have to be negotiating the spaces just to ensure that each participating country gets their spot in the training institution,” he noted.

He said the expansion project will also facilitate growth and reinforce the dominance of the REDTRAC.

“We realise that very soon there will be competition, because Trinidad and Tobago has expressed interest in building an institution similar to REDTRAC, so we will not sit back, hence the expansion and the new addition of courses in the future,” he noted.

Acting Director for Academic Affairs at REDTRAC, Wayne Vassell, said “the overseas participants prefer to enrol at the institution because, comparatively, our course offerings are more affordable and more practical. So, with more space, we look forward to the new prospects”.

He said the Intelligence Gathering and Analysis course has the highest demand and has been the most subscribed course for more than a decade.

“Persons… always confirm that when they operationalise (put into practice) the training they receive from REDTRAC, they see immediate results, which is always beneficial in helping their country fight crime,” Mr. Vassell pointed out.

The Intelligence Gathering and Analysis course is offered three times per year, while the others are offered once.

Courses in Financial Investigation and Money Laundering are also in high demand.

Mr. Vassell said the mission of the REDTRAC is to develop and deliver training courses to meet the needs of law-enforcement, drug-control, border-control and financial-control agencies across 18 English-speaking Caribbean countries.

REDTRAC offers training to police and military personnel; customs, immigration, port authority/security officers, as well as representatives of several other government agencies and the judiciary, on how to combat multinational crimes, such as drug and human trafficking, money laundering and cybercrime.

This agency, which operates under the Ministry of National Security, is observing its 21st anniversary and will be having a year-long celebration.