Commissioner of Police Leslie James has said that while there has been a recent spike in crime, he is “not bothered” because the Guyana Police Force has recorded an overall drop in serious crimes.
“…There are few sensational crimes that are occurring. We have noted that there might have been a spike but I can say in terms of serious crimes at the moment we have a minus 3.4 percent in serious crimes, generally,” James told reporters on Friday.
He was at the time responding to questions asked by the media on the sidelines of a graduation for new recruits at the Tactical Service Unit (TSU) Square, Eve Leary.
James explained that while the police cannot prevent persons from committing criminal activities, they are doing their “utmost” best to deal with the situation.
“We have said in the past, crimes, whenever they occur, we will deal with it. We have measures, we have strategies in place to deal with those crimes. We have strategies that we have embarked on. We have also applied a number of tactics to deal with this…but it is simply clear that persons are still bent in dealing with crime…. As you could have seen, we have been dealing with them very decisively. As they occur, we are dealing with them,” James said.
James also noted that the CCTV cameras recently installed in and around the city as part of the Safe City project have been providing the police with “immense” assistance. “As you would have noticed, as the crimes committed, we have been taking persons into custody and they have been charged so that in its self would tell you something,” he said.
He added that there are more occurrences of petty crimes than serious ones.
“We have petty snatching of person’s property—cellphones purses, handbags and things like that—especially in the Stabroek Market area,” he said.
James noted that Region 4 (a) Commander Assistant Commissioner Marlon Chapman, Crime Chief (ag) Michael Kingston and other senior officials were tasked with addressing this aspect of the crime problem.
Just over a week ago, police force spokesman Jairam Ramlakhan, in a press release, had said that recently there has been an increase in the police presence in and around the Stabroek Market area and during that time more than 100 persons were arrested in relation to several crimes.
A number of them, he added, had since been charged.
Two unlicensed firearms, ammunition and narcotics were also found.
The release explained that the operation is part of the force’s efforts to reduce crime.
“In the best interest of society, the GPF aims to stop problems before they occur by reducing the opportunities for crime and by deterring people from becoming involved in anti-social and criminal behaviour, and welcome all digital content in assisting with prosecution and prevention,” the release had further stated.
The force, according to the release, aims to target the communities at an early stage and work with the young generation in order to lead them into the right direction. It also noted that the public has a vital role to play in this regard. “Public support is needed to receive the information required for preventing and solving issues surrounding crime,” the release added.
