Dear Editor,
In reference to your editorial of Monday, November 3, about the Alexander Village hooliganism, you must realize that the best of plans will still remain a plan if it is not put into operation and carried out by those who are responsible for carrying it through.
There is something terribly wrong with law enforcement here in Guyana. It would appear as though the law enforcers are not properly motivated or are outright lackadaisical. In the case of Alexander Village, one woman told your newspaper that the police arrived after the thugs had left, and when she asked a policeman why they were so late he was rude.
You know every time I watch a police officer talking about 911 saying it should not be used for pranks I get disgusted. A non-Guyanese watching the broadcast with the officer looking quite serious and professional would get the impression that 911 was working efficiently, although we know differently. Your newspaper has reported so many cases of people calling 911 either when a crime is in progress or immediately after the criminals have left and the phone just rings out. There are cases too when people go to a police station at night to report a crime and they find the station closed and dark, or the reporters are told that they don’t have a vehicle.
In the city we see policemen dressed in black looking quite smart with their automatic weapons, but how many crimes have they stopped and how many escaping criminals have they caught, even though crime takes place just under their noses.
I cannot say what is wrong with our law enforcers but I do know criminals of every sort have the upper hand.
Yours faithfully,
WP George
