The Trinidad and Tobago Police Band
To foster a common bond between the police service and the public, by reaching out as educators, advisors, and entertainers through the medium of music.
Our History
A group of influential persons proposed the establishment of a steady instrumental Band for the City of Port of Spain. This "unofficial Police Band" was made up of a Bandmaster and ten instrumentalists, each supported by voluntary contributions of five pounds deducted from members of the Police Force. Stationed at Police Headquarters on St. Vincent Street, its engagements included parades of troops, ceremonial parades and route marches, official state functions, social gatherings at Government House and the Police Officers' Mess, private and public balls, and public concerts two or three times a week.
The Colonial Secretary, at a meeting of the Legislative Council, regularized the Band and voted the sum of three hundred and eighty-four dollars as extra pay for the Bandsmen. Deductions from the salaries of policemen were thereafter discontinued. The strength of the Band had increased to eighteen men.
The Band, with its three sections of Brass, Woodwinds and Percussion, was moved to the Central Police Station on Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, which has been its home ever since. Its number had risen to thirty-five men.
The end of British control of the Band was marked by the appointment of Superintendent Antonio Prospect, a naturalised Trinidadian, as the new Director of Music. During his tenure he introduced electric amplification in the Band's Rhythm Section and placed Women Police Drummers at the head of the Band on parades. Its strength had risen to forty-three members.
Superintendent Prospect retired and Superintendent George Scott became the new Director of Music for the next eight years.
Under Superintendent Rodrick Urquhart's tenure (1991-1997), Susan Quamie, the first female instrumentalist in the Band, was enlisted. She played the B Flat Clarinet. To date, seven women have joined the Band as full-time instrumentalists.
Superintendent Urquhart retired from the Police Band and was succeeded by Superintendent Nelson Villafana. The strength of the Band had risen to fifty-three members.
Superintendent Villafana passed away in October 2002 and was succeeded by Superintendent Enrique Moore in November 2002. Superintendent Villafana's tenure brought to a close the British era, in which all previous Directors of Music had received their musical training at the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall, England. Superintendent Moore is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music, Boston, United States of America. The strength of the Police Band now stands at sixty-two members.
From its inception, the Band was considered the Public Relations Unit of the Police Service. One of its fundamental functions is to help shape public opinion about the service by providing it with a pleasing image and reputation. Since then, its duties have expanded, guided by its mission to foster a common bond between the police service and the public by reaching out as educators, advisors and entertainers through the medium of music.