Decrease in crime due to multiple approaches by police – Ramjattan
Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, believes that the decrease in crime is as a result of three approaches adopted by the Guyana Police Force. The force has and continues to strengthen the approaches.
Public Security Minister Kemraj Ramjattan
Ramjattan said that increased community confidence in the work of the force, coupled with a greater focus on professionalism within the organization, and the providence of adequate resources to assist the force to fulfill its mandate is key to recent gains.
It was revealed recently, that for the period January 1 to May 12, last, 41 persons were victims of homicide, as compared to 55 for the same period in 2016. Comparatively, this translates to a 25 percent reduction, or 14 fewer victims for this year, when compared to the previous year, 2016.
“Further, the statistics indicate a clearance rate for homicides for the year 2017 is at an all-time high which is 83 percent. This means that 83 percent of the murder reports received for the year were solved by the Guyana Police Force.
At the beginning of the APNU+AFC government’s tenure in office crime was one of the ‘troublesome’ issue that had to be addressed. Many had even called for the removal of Ramjattan but he was adamant that the force has a plan to arrest the situation.
Community Confidence in Police
In a very candid interview Ramjattan said that while crime is continuously decreasing much more needs to be done in fighting crime. That aside, Ramjattan said that communities across the country have shown greater confidence in the police so information gathering which is critical to fighting crime is much better.
He said that it is no secret that in times past, persons were apprehensive about giving information to the police but this has changed. As a matter of fact, the AFC member said that communities are assisting the police by letting them know who is about to commit a crime or who has committed a particular crime.
And it is collaborative work like that is assisting the police in apprehending many criminals. Additionally, Ramjattan explained that the leadership of the force has been critical in augmenting the gains the force has made so far.
He said it was important that the police are allowed to do their work without any interference for anyone let alone the government. He said that since becoming Minister he has made it his duty not to micromanage the police force.
Ramjattan said that the law enforcement body has enough capable and qualified individuals to do its work therefore there is no need for interference.
Police Professionalism
An issue that has been a ‘thorn’ in the side of this and previous governments is the professionalism or the lack of it, by some police officers. Ramjattan said that he is taking a ‘no nonsense’ approach in this regard.
The Public Security Minister said that rogue cops will be dealt with swiftly and condignly since there is no place in the police force for such officials.
He said that there will be no leniency in dealing with corrupt police officers, “if they want to take bride, we will catch them in sting operations”. Ramjattan said that police officers who have a penchant for collecting a ‘raise’ should know by now that they run the risk of being interdicted from the force for such behaviour.
There is also a more serious risk of them being placed before the court for such practices. Ramjattan said that ‘every single’ complaint made against police officers will be investigated by the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).
Additional Resources
Another critical area according to Ramjattan is the amount of money being expended to ensure that police officers are properly trained and have the necessary resources to do their work.
He said that to date more than 200 police officers have benefited from overseas training to ensure that the force is on par with what obtains internationally. He said that Government has been supporting these training and will continue to do so.
On top of that, Ramjattan said that modern vehicles and weaponry have also assisted in this area.
He said that while the direction in which the police force finds itself is commendable, there are some issues that are still of concern to him and are being addressed.
One area that continues to be of concern to the authorities is the Stabroek Market Square. He said that plans are in train to place a number of additional close circuit television cameras (CCTV) in that area.
Ramjattan explained that once the funds become available, from the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) that government has approached, those cameras will soon be installed.
In the meantime, he is advising the citizenry to wear very little gold and other jewelry and to do more cheque transactions and avoid moving around with lots of cash.