The Guyana Police Force was upbeat last week about its pre-Christmas statistical announcements, although this time, perhaps, there was some cause for the officers to indulge themselves with a measure of modest satisfaction. First, Assistant Commissioner Simon McBean, the Commander of Georgetown, said that his division had recorded a 30% decrease in serious crime and a 47% overall clearance rate for the year. “We are more visible,” he was quoted as saying; “We were able to put out over 8,900 patrols this year.” He went on to state that together with the “significant increase in our intelligence-led road blocks and operations,” crime had decreased in the division.
He went on to report that whereas last year there had been 36 murders within the division, representing a 30% increase on the year before, this year there were 21, which came close to a 50% decrease. These improvements were also reflected at a national level, with Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum saying that the number of murders for the year totalled 122, of which 80% had been solved. “More importantly,” he added, “our detection and clear-up rate for murder is at an all-time high, that is 80.3 per cent.” This was the third lowest number of murders recorded over the past ten years.
While a clear sign of an advance, these figures are nevertheless only partial from the public’s point of view. Have murder rates come down across the board, for example, or are the statistics relating to some types of murder still stubbornly high? Anecdotally speaking, citizens do not get the impression that domestic violence killings have declined, for example, and these will be the ones which will not be affected by the number of patrols on the road let alone the increase in intelligence-led road blocks and operations.
Similarly, while the Crime Chief has by implication lauded the Force’s “detection and clear-up rate for murder”, in the end what matters is the conviction rate for this crime. This of course is not altogether in the hands of the police, and depends equally on the quality of prosecution in the courts. However, it would be helpful for the public to know what the conviction rates are, and if they are low exactly what the reasons are. Would it be because of the failure of investigating officers to find the kind of evidence which could prove a case beyond reasonable doubt, or would the problem lie mainly in the courts?
In relation to Georgetown, Commander McBean reported a 66% decrease in street crime, which had been a problem for many years. That will be a relief for shoppers and vendors, and possibly may be accounted for by the increase in police patrols. He also said that 26 illegal firearms had been removed from the streets along with 80 kilogrammes of cannabis and 3.4 kilogrammes of cocaine. At the countrywide level the Crime Chief provided the figures of 49 kilogrammes of cocaine being seized, constituting the third highest seizure within the past five years, and the highest cannabis seizure ever of 789 kilogrammes. There were in addition, 78 illegal firearms taken off the streets, he said.
As far as the larger quantity of drugs being seized is concerned, it is difficult to know whether this is the consequence of greater police effectiveness, or the fact that more cocaine is coming into the country as well as more ganja being grown illegally here – or perhaps both. Certainly in First World jurisdictions the larger seizures there are being put down to an increase in the smuggling of narcotics.
While it is good news that the police managed to seize illegal firearms off the streets, that in and of itself will not solve the problem. Nothing was said about interdicting the importation of such weapons, which will not be done in Georgetown or along the coast for that matter. Some years ago the late Police Commissioner Henry Greene let it be known that most illegal firearms originated in Brazil, and one suspects the situation would have got worse during the period Jair Bolsonaro was in office there. It would be good to learn that the hierarchy of the GPF was directing its attention to instituting intelligence-led operations not just in the city, but in Lethem and the Rupununi as well.
It might be noted that at that time it was said that revolvers could be rented even in certain of the capital’s markets, which was why their use was so prevalent in crimes. There is also the problem of the excessive number of legally owned firearms, an issue which was addressed in SN’s editorial on Tuesday last week.
According to Mr Blanhum, this year the CID recorded 1521 crimes, reflecting a 19 per cent reduction in serious crime when compared to the 2002 crimes reported last year. It would be good for the citizenry to know what is encompassed in the term ‘serious crime’, and whether all forms of transgression falling within that category have declined, or only some. There is a big distinction from the layperson’s point of view between common or garden theft and armed robbery, for instance. Those crimes which also threaten personal safety are of more concern to the public than those which don’t.
For his part Commander McBean said his division had investigated over 17,000 reports, following from which 3,550 people were charged. In addition to this 4,200 people were brought before the courts for traffic violations. In the absence of further breakdowns, it is difficult to know what to make of the first set of figures, whereas in the case of the traffic offences the public will simply look at those with a cynical eye, for reasons which are only too well known.
No police force can function in the way it was intended unless it is properly equipped, its officers are well trained and it is largely free of corruption. Mr McBean did say that for his area the fleet at his disposal had increased from 4 to 15 vehicles and 6 to 33 motorcycles, with 9 more vehicles added for the Christmas season. For an area like Georgetown which accounts for 40% of the nation’s crime, one cannot help but feel that the number of vehicles may still not be sufficient. There is the caveat, of course, that the ranks of the GPF do not have a reputation for treating their vehicles with respect.
That aside, the Crime Chief said that the focus for the new year would be on technology, training, recruitment and partnership. He was quoted as saying that CID intended to explore technology and data “to identify, disrupt and dismantle criminal groups”. Among other things forensic video analysts would receive further advanced training.
Certainly in recent years the solving of crimes has become a much more scientific exercise than was the case years ago, and the GPF has been notably deficient in this department. In that regard it was good news to learn from Minister Robeson Benn that the government had paid for a new DNA analysis machine so the Guyana Forensic Laboratory could undertake DNA testing, so important nowadays in the solution of certain crimes. The lab had one before, and although that machine was still working, the manufacturer had stopped producing the reagents for its use.
As for acting Police Commissioner Hicken, like Mr Blanhum much of his emphasis was on training. “Come next year … Constables to Assistant Commissioner will be retrained to meet the challenges that [are] demanded by members of the public,” he was quoted as saying. No one had anything direct to say about corruption, although the Commissioner was perhaps making an oblique reference to that when he said that modernisation must happen to ensure transparency and accountability.
Modernisation, of course, will not of itself ensure honesty, but he did go on to say, “If we are to remain transparent, professional and accountable, it is only obvious that we have to put mechanisms in place to ensure that rules, regulations and policies are maintained.” The public waits to see what those mechanisms will be.
