Mobility of any police force is essential to the effective combating of crime

and in this regard the government through the Home Affairs Ministry ever since assuming office in 1992 has been continuously working towards providing vehicles to our Police Force.
As such gone are the days under the previous government when the Guyana Police Force (GPF) had an acute shortage of vehicles and when someone made a report about a crime he/she was asked if they have transportation to take the police to the crime scene.
Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee at the handing over ceremony noted that the Government has always tried to equip the law enforcement agencies with the relevant mobility to make them effective and recognisable.
He disclosed that the vehicles were procured from the 2012 budgetary allocation passed by the National Assembly and the handing over is a demonstration of government’s commitment to equip the police with assets for them to do their work.
Therefore, it is very heartening to see once again that the GPF’s vehicular capacity has been further boosted with a fleet of vehicles to the tune of $61M, including ATVs.
As regards the latter, this is even more welcoming because we have seen an increasing number of serious crimes in the hinterlands and these ATs should go a long way in enhancing the capacity of the GPF to tackle crime in the remote communities.
And with plans in train to establish an Air Wing of the GPF, the air and road mobility its overall capacity to respond and investigate crimes will be significantly enhanced.
Training for 14 ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Air Wing, who were interviewed for the positions of pilots/engineers by experts of the local aviation industry, will begin in phases.
Rohee disclosed that police ranks at the level of cadets will be trained at the Art Williams and Harry Wendt Aeronautical Engineering School and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).
He said the objective is to establish an Aeronautical Branch of the GPF so it could own and operate its own aircrafts.
What is needed now to complement the air and road mobility is the establishment of a Marine Wing because we have seen in recent times, piracy raising its ugly head as well as other serious crimes being committed in our rivers and other waterways.
But while it is good to have more vehicles and increased mobility for the GPF, equally important there must be an effective system of monitoring the use of vehicles and maintenance and care of them.
In this regard, there is some concern because we have seen a significant number of police vehicles being damaged through misuse, mishandling and lack of maintenance.
It would be a waste of financial resources for the government to provide vehicles to the GPF only to have them damaged or destroyed in a short while. If that is the case then it would be back to square one because having vehicles that cannot be used is tantamount to not having vehicles. Inevitably because of the nature of police work some vehicles may get damaged but that should not be an excuse for a lack of care and proper maintenance of vehicles.
Therefore, some form of censure and sanctions should be in place to deal with those ranks who are responsible for damages to vehicles through improper handling and negligence.