A person sentenced to community service is expected to provide unpaid work which is of value to the community as an alternative to custody. According to the Trinidad and Tobago Community Service Orders Act "the number of hours which a person may be required to work under a community service order shall be specified in the order and shall be the aggregate of not less than 40 hours and not more than 240 hours as may be specified in the order."

The Act also states that if at any time "while a community service order is in force against an offender it appears on information by the Chief Probation Officer to a magistrate for the magisterial district in which the order was made that the offender has failed to comply with any requirements of the order the magistrate may (a) issue a summons requiring the offender to appear at the place and time specified in the summons; or (b) if the information is on oath, issue a warrant for his arrest."

Claire Blandin, Chief Probation Officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Probation services Division, said the public's perception that community service was a "slap on the wrist" was incorrect.

She said, "community service" as punishment has so far proven to be an effective deterrent and most of the first-time offenders who have been handed this sentence in the past were able to learn from the experience and have become law-abiding citizens who go on to lead productive lives.

"We have had instances where persons were sent to work at an organisation and that organisation later took them in and employed them because they carried out their duties so well and made an impression on that organisation.

"Now as with everything else there are some persons who still fall through the cracks, so that you find that even after serving the sentence (for community service) they are back before the court for another offence. But I can tell you that those cases are very few, " Blandin said.

She acknowledged that this method of punishment was also utilised in a number of first world countries. "It is an alternative to incarceration and it is an alternative where you pay back the society with your labour and time to compensate for a wrong deed that was done."

"But only certain categories of offenders may be sentenced to community service, they include first time offenders (as in the case of the CAPE pupils) and persons charged with minor larceny and other petty crimes...", she said.

Blandin added, "Persons charged with criminal offences such as murder, manslaughter and aggravated assault are not sent to do community service, those are the excluded categories."

The probation officers usually assign the offender to a task. That individual could be sent to work at various NGO and community based organisations, such as the St Vincent De Paul Home and at other charitable organisations, which cater to the needs of the disadvantaged in society.

"Other tasks include painting, landscaping, and gardening. We also try to make use of whatever skill a person may have," Blandin said.

She said a community officer is usually on hand to supervise the offender and will also submit a report on the work that was done. After the community service is served, an offender can make an application to the court to have the charge expunged from their record.