The promised of APNU/AFC
CRIME REDUCTION, PERSONAL, PUBlIC And TERRITORIAL SECURITY
PUBlIC SAFETY And CITIZENS SECURITY.
Under the PPP and an incompetent Home Affairs Minister, Guyana has become the murder capital of the world (as measured by a murders/population ratio) thus inhibiting investment and fuelling migrant flight; white collar crime has also risen to alarming proportions. Recent years have witnessed the absence of adequate and appropriate oversight of the Police Force and the insertion of politicised civilians into the arrangements resulting in vigilante activities as part of policing. Public security is an imperative for the development of our country. As the Courtney Crum-Ewing case vividly demonstrates the GPF has been used as an arm of the PPP and an instrument of oppression.
The recent LAPOP 2012 report on Guyana points to the finding that:
Guyana has the lowest level of trust in the police in the region and this trust has decreased over time. Between 2012 and 2014, trust in the police in Guyana decreased by 10 points on a 0 to 100 scale from 45.8 in 2012 to 35.4 in 2014. “The drop has been most steep for those who identified as Afro-Guyanese,” Dr. Zechmeister said.
No country can develop if its citizens live in constant fear of criminal attack. No family can be healthy if members are fearful and vulnerable. No entrepreneur would invest funds in an environment rife with crime and corruption. Therefore, there is urgent need for the implementation of the long ignored police reform recommendations to ensure that the police become a well paid and effective agent for serving and protecting the population, rather than an instrument of oppression, as under the PPP.
APNU+AFC will:
Develop a comprehensive Public Security plan. It will appoint a specialised committee, to include national stake-holders and supported as appropriate by external agencies, with the objective of developing a comprehensive Public Security plan, for early implementation, which identify the main causes of violent crimes and escalating crimes in Guyana and the mechanisms for their prevention.
The committee would be asked to pay special attention to:
• Reducing the high rate of armed robberies, murders, piracy, human trafficking and domestic violence while improving policing and maintaining police teams and identifying ways of ensuring that police officers spend more time deterring, detecting, preventing and investigating crime.
• Ensuring a state of readiness and the acquisition of expertise and forensic equipment, including DNA and IT technology.
