Abstract
This article evaluates a tourism-oriented policing (TOP) training program that was conducted with police officers in the Caribbean island of Tobago. It focuses on TOP and its increasing role in contemporary police practices, especially at destinations that depend on tourism for survival. The article explores previous tourism policing approaches, the need for tourist safety and the necessity for police departments to contemporise their policing by moving away from former paradigms of police officers as generalists. The study utilises a quantitative case study approach in surveying the TOP training program, with data analysed from pre- and post-test questionnaires of 25 participants. Descriptive results indicate general satisfaction with the training, a belief that tourism security is beneficial to the tourism industry in Tobago and that senior police officers should all receive TOP training.
Highlights
Many countries’ economies depend on tourism for survival (United Nations [UN] World Tourism Organization [WTO] 2013)
Several questions on the post-test questionnaire sought to determine the effect of tourism-oriented policing (TOP) training on the course participants and several common areas emanated from their responses
Future studies should attempt to engage as participants in the training program a wider cross-section of police officers, tourism professionals and tourism providers. This heuristic study aimed to evaluate a TOP training program conducted with members of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) division
Summary
Many countries’ economies depend on tourism for survival (United Nations [UN] World Tourism Organization [WTO] 2013). Tobago fits the UNWTO’s (2013) criteria as an island that relies foremost on tourism and its by-products for almost all of its income. Over the past two decades, the nation has witnessed increases in crimes committed against tourists (Kuhns, Spohn and Wells 2008), posing major challenges to its economic sustainability. The continuous rise in crime rates as well as extensive regional and international media coverage of crimes against tourists in Tobago have seen tourism security catapulted to the fore of local policymakers’ minds (Boxill 2012). Several international governments have issued travel advisories to their citizens regarding the security of tourists when visiting the island (Wolf 2008)
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