Commissioner commends ranks
COMMENDING the work of members of the Guyana Police Force yesterday, Police Commissioner Henry Greene also announced a significant drop in the murder rate.
It dropped some 45 per cent from the corresponding period last year.
Speaking at an awards ceremony in observance of the Force’s 170th anniversary, at the Police Officers’ Mess, Eve Leary, Georgetown, the Commissioner revealed that for this year, there has been a total of 57 murders as compared to last year’s figure of 104 for the same period.

Commissioner Henry Greene and Assistant Commissioner of Police, Krshna Lekraj, with representatives of several Community and Neighbourhood Policing Groups at yesterday’s award ceremony.

He observed that crime has, in some aspects, gone down, with the rate of robbery under arms reducing, although the crimes of robbery with violence and robbery with aggravation continue to be worrisome, with a rise in the numbers for this year.

Although the incidence of larceny has dropped, more persons are getting involved in this activity which is in most cases concentrated in the Stabroek Market area, despite frequent police operations there.

Burglary is another area that the Force is grappling to control, and the Commissioner said the figures from the corresponding periods last year and now indicate a rise in this crime.

“Overall, we are minus four per cent in terms of our figures as it relates to serious crime when compared to last year”, he remarked.

In the areas of traffic control, road accidents and fatalities, and compliance with the new and amended laws that have been passed in the National Assembly, the Police Force has performed creditably, but compliance by the public needs to be improved in some areas.

The Commissioner said so far for this year there have been 53 accidents with 59 deaths, as compared to last year’s 51 accidents and 62 deaths.

On the issue of the breathalyser testing, which traffic ranks and other members of the Guyana Police have been duly authorised to execute, Greene said this will be instituted on the roadways very soon.

– Police Commissioner Greene, and Assistant Commissioner of Administration, Krshna Lekraj, at his right, with some of the police recipients of awards yesterday at Eve Leary.

He also issued an appeal to motorists not to drink and drive, adding that the Police are prepared and are now moving to put this system into action.

Bemoaning the disregard for the amended regulation which restricts the use of cell phones while driving, the Commissioner said this is something the Force has been trying to prevent since earlier this year.

Another issue is the playing of music in public transportation, which the same amended Clause 14 of the Road Service Licence stipulates is now illegal, and is

still being perpetuated by motorists, Greene said.

He stated that since the introduction of the amended regulation last March, 156 persons have been charged.

Meanwhile, the GPF awarded $6.7M dollars to policemen and women, and officers at yesterday’s ceremony for outstanding performance from December of last year to now, and who have ensured that the Force continue to do its work to keep its flag flying.

The Commissioner also commended members of Community and Neighbourhood Policing Groups as well as advisory bodies for their invaluable contribution to the Force over the same period.

Some 1,053 members of the Force received monetary incentives, while some 48 members of CPGs and NPGs, as well as individuals within these groupings, were also awarded and recognised for their work.

Commissioner Greene also announced a number of special awards to the Tactical Services Unit (TSU), which received $500,000 for its commendable work this year; a unit within the TSU was awarded $250,000, another $150,000 was awarded to the Special Patrol Unit, with the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and ‘A’ Division each receiving $200,000 each.