-security expert
Local gangs are in their infancy but they could pose a dangerous and uncontrollable threat if the police force does not boost its numbers and work diligently to gather intelligence to capture criminals, a security expert has said.
“We are on the threshold of reaching a dangerous stage where we may have another ‘Fineman’ and ‘Skinny,’” he told Stabroek News during a recent interview. “…When people succeed, they get bolder and become permanent and go further afield and do bolder crimes.”
Police Commissioner Henry Greene last week admitted that separate gangs have committed armed robberies on the East Bank and East Coast of Demerara. He quickly pointed out that there is nothing alarming about the attacks except the number of persons involved.
The security expert, who asked not to be named, said that such gangs are not like the Phantom Squad, which was a “permanent gang.” He said the groups carrying out the attacks are three or four young men looking for easy money for the weekend. He added that they are likely not involved in organised crime and are barely out of school. “These guys would rent a weapon— most times a .38 Taurus revolver—and they would come together, decide on a target, commit the robbery and then disperse,” he explained.
It was further pointed out that such robbers do not maintain contact with each other. “What is happening is that some of these guys don’t own guns. They rent them. They don’t work or have [any] family connections,” he said, adding that they would just come together and decide on a robbery location.
The security expert opined, “These gangs are still in the stage of infancy. They (the members) don’t have permanent transportation, organisational structure, a leader and so on… It will get worse.
It is the duty of the police to gather intelligence on these people.” He added that currently the police force is not working with a complicated network, since there is one road running through the East Coast and another running through the East Bank. “We need to have people who can gather intelligence. We need to bring the force up to strength (it is currently 20% understaffed) and develop a structure to track the criminals down and bring crime to an end,” he added.
Several gangs
Asked about the upsurge in armed robberies and who might be behind them, Greene said that there is more than one gang operating. He added that in at least two of the cases, investigators believe that the perpetrators are from an East Bank Demerara village.
He explained that the gang that struck at Saj Rice Mill at Burma, Mahaicony two Thursdays ago was one unit operating with persons from Rose Hall, Berbice and Georgetown. Greene added that the Berbice perpetrators probably surveyed the Mahaicony area prior to the attack. He added that they perhaps were not noticed since they blended in with the people there.
The four persons who allegedly committed that robbery were nabbed in Georgetown and they were subsequently charged.
One has since admitted to committing the robbery. Greene pointed out that one of the members of the gang shortly after his arrest also admitted to a robbery at Laparkan in Rose Hall. “It would appear as though there are several gangs in Berbice which this gang may be associated with but only one of them admitted to the Laparkan robbery,” he said.
Greene added that police also suspect that gangs operating out of Georgetown are following persons from the city to various villages along the East Coast and then robbing them.
The easiest target for these armed robbers appears to be vegetable vendors, who have also been also targets on the East Bank. “It seems to me that they are following people from Georgetown. We have had three matters with ‘greens’ vendors on the East Bank from Bourda Market. These persons were followed and at their homes, they were robbed. They (the bandits) are looking for soft targets,” he noted.
Greene said that the vendors go home believing that nobody would follow them for the estimated $100, 000 some of them earn.
The gang that invaded a house at Unity, Mahaica, is also a separate gang, he said, while explaining that the number involved is still unclear.
According to Greene, the businessman, Raajdeo Tahjpaul, who was shot during the attack, told investigators there were seven persons but his daughter later said it was four.
He said that the police have not been able to establish who the perpetrators are but there is belief that it is a gang coming out of an East Bank village.
Greene added that an armed robbery at Eccles Industrial Site two Thursdays ago was committed by another large gang as well another group that struck at Prairie International Hotel later that day.
He noted that there are a lot of police patrols around especially in the city. “I think the city is tight but these guys are looking for what we call soft targets. And soft targets are people like ‘greens’ vendors,” he said.
Greene added that there is no increase in gang robberies. “Overall, we have not been having much, so it looks like an increase to you…. There have not been many. It has been significant because of the number of persons we heard about,” he stressed.
