ACTING Police Commissioner, David Ramnarine has said the judicial system needs to play a role in fighting crime, lamenting that too many recidivists are being granted bail for serious crimes.“One of the disturbing things when persons are charged with firearm offences is they are granted bail in the courts,” Ramnarine noted.

He explained that criminal law is intended to protect society, and while considerations of fairness may suggest a particular outcome, this result may not be justified if it means exposing the public to substantially greater harm.

Providing an example, the acting Police Commissioner pointed to the cases of four defendants who were recently charged with unlawful arms and ammunition being granted bail.

In three cases, he said the High Court granted bail and in the other case bail was granted in the Magistracy.

“Bail ought to be a serious deterrent to crime, in some cases persons are granted $200,000 bail, $180,000, $50,000, in one of the cases a guy was charged for unlawful possession of arms and ammunition and he was granted bail. While on bail he is arrested and charged with stealing an ATV valued over $3M and he is granted bail again,” the acting Top Cop said.

He also noted that the defendant is now a prime suspect in the robbery/murder of a Brazilian national in the interior where a firearm was used.

Ramnarine was at a loss as to why the judiciary could be so insensitive in the dispensation of the granting of bail.

“What happened to the recent gun amnesty? Did the criminal elements bring in their firearms during the gun amnesty?” The Top Cop asked, adding that “It is clear that they did not.”

“This is total disregard to people being found with firearms well after gun amnesty when they had an opportunity to surrender their firearms, which they have not,” he contended.

The Top Cop said the illegal firearms were not surrendered, but are being used to terrorise, rob and kill people.

“The amount of bail granted in the court makes a mockery of how a responsible authority behaves in these matters,” Ramnarine declared.

He emphasised that the Police Force is a microcosm of the wider society and one element in the criminal justice system.

“I will not take responsibility for the behaviour of other people who constitute and have a role to play in other elements in the criminal justice system,” Ramnarine said.

Only recently, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Basil Williams observed that a total breakdown of coordination in the justice system here allowed convicted drug trafficker, Barry Dataram to flee the jurisdiction in a bid to escape imprisonment.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Williams said during the initial stage of his trial, Dataram was granted bail by former Chief Justice, Ian Chang after he was refused bail in the lower court; and once this was done, there should have been an immediate alert in the system, with the immigration, police and prison services activating surveillance mechanisms.

He said it is clear that this was not done, and when Dataram realised that he was going to be jailed, he took advantage of a weak system and escaped.

“Luckily, our neighbour (Suriname) again was able to come to our rescue, and I must commend them for their efforts,” Williams had said.