Technology for public safety and order
IN RECOGNITION that modern policing practices are now an information business, with intelligence and database management, the Government of Guyana has moved to introduce information technology.
With the support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), it has undertaken to reform and transform the Guyana Police Force (GPF). Under the Citizen Security Programme (CSP) , a core component of the reformation/transformation project, citizens will see the Force migrating from an incident-driven reactive institution to one that relies on analyses of patterns, incidents and problems. The functions will be largely intelligence-driven.
The design, development, and implementation of an Integrated Crime Information System (ICIS) is a major initiative of this reform; it will enable the Police Force and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) to create an enabling environment wherein, comprehensive, up-to-date, crime-related information is readily available and shared through the use of modern technology.
The ICIS is a major deliverable of the IT component of the CSP, linking police stations with Police Headquarters, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Guyana Prison Service in one network to allow  a seamless flow of information. This “flow of information” at reference will be mainly reports taken at police stations.
Data Centres have been already established at Force Headquarters and the Ministry of Home Affairs, and 12 police stations have been outfitted with networking desktop computers and connections to the Centres. Through this networking system, all reports of criminal occurrences, traffic offences and other law enforcement-related data will be made available on a real-time and permanent basis.
Home Affairs Minister, Mr. Clement Rohee, has observed that the ICIS is a highly sophisticated system of networking between police stations at the sub-divisional and divisional levels, where, through the data bank, information on crime is analysed at the Crime Observatory to determine trends and patterns. The police are provided with the results that will inform the necessary actions and interventions taken.
The minister pointed out that this is now allowing  the movement of analyses on a monthly and weekly basis to a daily one because people want real-time action. Reliable information and effective management of it will realise high levels of public safety and order.
According to IT Specialist, Mr. Floyd Levi, because it was recognised that that this was something new being introduced to the GPF, the Felix Austin Police Training College at Eve Leary was refurbished and outfitted with 25 computers and training conducted with all  police recruits who would be operating at the Data Centre as well as all other personnel earmarked to work within the ICIS, including those at the police stations.
The ICIS, as a main element of the modernisation of the GPF, aims to give this organisation all the information it needs to tackle crime. It is important that this information is readily available for the commanders and police operatives on the ground. The system also allows persons at police stations to access information on the server at Force Headquarters, providing them with the ability to respond to any given situation on the ground.
Prior to the introduction of this technology, the GPF had a manual system of recording data. These were done on ledgers, over 50 of them, a time-consuming and laborious job, which would have been transmitted on a routine basis, weekly and monthly, through the chain of command. The new system now allows  instantaneous reporting and access.
So far, 12 police stations have been equipped with this capacity and the long-term intention is to capture all the stations across the country. The system will also get inputs from the Magistrates Courts as part of the Criminal Justice System, as well as from other government agencies involved in law enforcement activities, including the GRA, CANU and the GDF Coast Guard.