Dear Editor,

Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee said at a meeting with community policing members at Annandale in December, 2006, that he is challenging East Coast policing groups to do more about crime, he also said that groups are not doing enough to stop crime in their villages, and that crime has increased on the east coast over the years.

I want to bring to the minister’s attention that many policing groups on the east coast are dormant, and this is due to poor leadership at group level and especially at the divisional level. The chairman and the secretary, who are the live wires of the divisional community policing body, are dormant and are not interested in promoting community policing on the east coast.

Through the ’90s until 2001, most villages on the east coast had an active policing group. One group was presented with a National Award (Medal of Service). Today there are only four policing groups working, although not active in ‘C’ Division, east coast, Dem-erara.

Previously, when we had good leaders (chairman) such as Chico Persaud, Mohamed Khan and Parmanand Sukhu at the divisional level, all the area had policing groups. These men used to visit groups at nights and hold meetings frequently. We used to get ongoing training and our ID cards were up to date. Today I am sad to see the state of community policing in ‘C’ division.

Yours faithfully,

Yusuf Mohamed