A rather snazzy-looking Guyana Police Force photograph evidently intended to make a point about the ‘ramped up’ state of the Force’s readiness for what, customarily, is a rash of seasonal crime, mostly robberies, appeared on the front page of the Stabroek News on Tuesday of this week. It is no secret, of course, that many crimes occur on our waterways, including crimes associated with smuggling and robberies, so that it is somewhat comforting to know that as Christmas approaches the Force is moving to cover more ground in terms of at least seeking to deter crime that involves the use of our waterways. It is widely known that our rivers are used as means of speedy transportation for bandits from the locations where their crimes are committed and the advertised vessels can be pressed into service as a form of deterrence there.
If the photograph, as the caption states, is intended to illustrate “part of the overall crime-fighting plan as the country heads towards the Christmas season” then it surely raises questions as to whether those other parts of the “plan” that have to do with seasonal onshore crime will, at some stage be made available to us through the media.
Truth be told, there has never been, as far as we recall, a particularly high level of public confidence in the ability of the Guyana Police Force – at least not in recent years – to mount a seasonal plan that either serves to deter the spate of robbery-related crimes, many of which are attended by quite alarming levels of violence, at this time of year. Frankly, the continual, seamless evolution of robbery-related crime has become a much talked-about feature of public discourse as has the seeming inability of the Force to put a serious dent in the volume of those crimes.
One of the more notable manifestations of increased coastal crime over the years has been the contemporary emergence of shockingly young teen criminals who employ a mix of sheer daring and sometimes shocking violence to relieve persons of their valuables. Nor does it appear that the police have been able to come up with an operation to suppress this particular genre of crime that frequently leaves its victims ‘roughed up’ emotionally shaken and robbed of their possessions. Worryingly, there appears to have emerged some measure of evidence that these types of crimes are not necessarily hatched by their youthful perpetrators but are linked to ‘schemes’ that frequently have connections to homes and other types of organized ‘cells,’ where ill-gotten gains serve as an essential support mechanism for those collectives,
If the experience of the year that draws to a close is anything to go by, the customary, seasonal experience of stepped-up crime, particularly robberies of one sort or another, is likely to be a challenge again this year. The Police are, of course, likely to provide their customary PR-driven ‘assurances’ (like that associated with the boats on the river) which, in the past, have not made any significant impact on either public confidence or on the level of seasonal crime itself. Truth be told, whatever assurances they provide, the Force always appears to be overwhelmed with the rash of crimes that occur during this time of year. Whether it is a matter of capacity or of strategy, they always seem to be ‘off the pace,’ so to speak, and whether the evidence of the Force’s modest foot patrols that is already in evidence, will be sufficient to deter seasonal crimes in circumstances where the perpetrators continue to relentlessly raise their game, is probably doubtful.
It means that the various forms of businesses including those that involve the movement of large amounts of cash, trading, commercial banking pursuits and other forms of business-related activity will, going forward, have to be particularly mindful of the threat. So too, will consumers, who, preoccupied as they may be with trying to, for a while at least, to put the emotional pressures of the pandemic behind them, may drop their guard amidst their one-off shopping sprees and pay the price.
One aspect of a seasonal crime strategy that is usually lacking and will probably be more important this year than in previous ones, is a significantly stepped-up level of visible police presence on downtown streets, their appearance of alertness and readiness to respond sending signals to would-be bandits that they are operating in an environment of heightened risk. Foot patrols must be able to ‘recognize’ situations that appear to be precursors to one type of crime or another and must have the capacity to intervene in a manner that either deters the crime or is linked to a strategy that makes it difficult for the perpetrators to be apprehended.
Pairs of police officers strolling serenely along pavements, ‘far from the maddening crowd’ will not ‘cut it.’ Nor for that matter will isolated ‘PR’ gestures like pictures of marine vessels lying calmly on the surface of the Demerara River. No one is, of course suggesting, that an incremental increase in the physical and material police resources does not provide a certain level of public reassurance. These, however, must be seen as part of an operational plan linked to a strategy that is reflective of an awareness of the anticipated threat level. As the saying goes ‘the noise in the market is not the sale.’
