CHIEF Constable Andrew Foo yesterday said the grim environment with regard to staff shortage and weakened training that currently exists in the City Constabulary Department of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is likely to remain for this New Year. Issues surrounding manpower at the constabulary continue to hamstring the municipality in addressing the needs of the City.
There are currently 160 staff members at the constabulary, whereas 314 staff members were budgeted for this year. The last time recruitment was done was in 2010.
According to Foo, another issue has to do with a shortage of men on the job. Most persons applying for the job are women.
Speaking with the media at his City Hall office, Foo pointed out that the constabulary, unlike the Guyana Police Force, does not have accommodation for persons living outside of the City who may wish to take up the job. Were this possible, persons who live outside of Georgetown could have worked in the city and gone home on weekends, he said.
“We need to be more aggressive and proactive. We need to be a bit more creative,” he said while addressing the issue of what can be done to attract more persons to the job.
Foo also said that training for officers has been weakened by the retirement and death of some of the more experienced officers.
In an interview earlier this week, Foo told this newspaper that in order to attract more persons to the job; schools may have to be targeted in an effort to identify the positives of the employment.
The constabulary recently started an anti-littering campaign that reaped good results in arresting and charging people for dumping. However, due to staff shortage, the officers who were involved had to divert their attention to the elections and Christmas.
However, according to Foo, the campaign will resume shortly, with a three- or four-member team, as it was devised to rid the City of litterbugs; and officers in plain clothes were mandated to apprehend persons caught in the act.
The detectives are working in strategic locations, including Regent, Water and King Streets, as well as at Stabroek and Cuffy squares.
Those caught littering will be arrested and placed before the court; they could be fined $7,500, and the initiative is intended to continue for as “long as possible”, until there is a change in the habit of citizens with regard to litter, Deputy Chief Constable Mr. Trevor Merriman had told this newspaper.
He said the M&CC “is still hoping that, one day”, authorities will see the need for the M&CC to have its own Municipal Court, so that the other magistrates do not have to be burdened with litter cases.
For the months of October and November alone, Merriman reported, 75 persons were placed before the court and prosecuted for the offence. He said that number would have been much higher had the Constabulary been up to full strength.
Meanwhile, the constabulary has reported that store owners are largely responsible for the garbage build-up in the City.
The City would usually pick up garbage in front of the stores between 14:00 hrs and 16:00 hrs, but the problem arises when those businesses open beyond 16:00 hrs.
According to Merriman, the council has found that many persons caught littering are working for businesses, and are mandated by the owners to illegally dump their litter.