"CHANGING HEARTS AND MINDS TO FORM BETTER COMMUNITIES”

 

The Hearts and Minds Foundation is the community arm of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Inter-Agency Task Force. The Task Force is a combination of Police and Defence Force officers formed to tackle crime and criminality in so-called “hot spots” throughout T&T. The program, as a component of hot spot policing, was designed to impact the social issues of those affected communities. The philosophy of implementing this social development approach to crime fighting was born from interaction and solution-planning with community members.

 

Throughout T&T there are 126 Police Youth Clubs, actively serving and supporting 15,000 young men and women. Each club has sporting activities as an integral part of their curriculum. East Port-of-Spain, the Hearts and Minds area of operation, has a population of approximately 94,000, encompassing 53 communities. The Hearts and Minds Foundation operates eight Police Youth Clubs with 1,070 members. The program currently runs a 16-team under-15 boys soccer league, and a 10-team under-25 league, and now proudly boasts six girls teams taking part in the newly established Shaka Hislop Football League. The League serves as the development academy for the Police Service women’s soccer team which competes in T&T’s highest women’s league, WoLF (Women’s League Football). May’s Futsal and indoor competitions brought the curtain down on what has been the program's most participated-in season.