MORE than 50 residents of Sophia, South Turkeyen, ECD met yesterday with divisional officers and ranks of the Guyana Police Force, executives of the National Community Policing Group, and members of the South Turkeyen Community Policing Group at the Pattensen Community Centre to brainstorm solutions to the escalating incidences of crime in that community.

A number of recommendations were tabled after residents detailed poignant experiences of suffering losses amounting to in excess of millions of dollars at the hands of bandits. Some detailed instances of being shot at as they went to the assistance of their family members and in defence of their properties.
Those present at the meeting included Chairman of the National Community Policing Association, Mr Omesh Satyanand; Liaison Officer in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mr. Leon Rampersaud; Officer-in-charge of the #2 Sub Division of the ‘D’ Division, Assistant Police Superintendent Julius Wright; other officers and ranks of the Sophia Police Station and members of the South Turkeyen Policing Group.
Besides sharing their hair-raising experiences of encounters with bandits in the community, residents spoke about the need to maintain enhanced trust between themselves and the police, and the need for timely responses to calls from residents confronting dangerous criminals.
Chairman of the South Turkeyen Community Policing Group, Mr. Narine Kublall, and his group came in for praise for their response to crime calls reported in the Sophia area. Officers of the Sophia Police Station were also commended for outstanding performance in solving crime and in general matters of police intervention.
The need for increased neighbourhood policing and community police patrolling in the area was also mentioned, and the chairman noted that the area group is working to have their own vehicle, which would increase the nightly patrol in the area.
National Chairman of the Community Policing Group, Mr. Omesh Satyanand, indicated in his presentation that the Guyana Police Force is a unique organisation, which emphasises training for its ranks. He noted that what happens after that training is where the problem begins, as some ranks who are naturally inclined to development would take full responsibility for their actions, while others would just allow things to pass by the way.
He mentioned that a more responsible approach is needed to develop a better relationship between the police, policing groups and the communities in a network of information sharing among other things.
Assistant Superintendent Wright, Officer-in-charge of the #2 Sub Division, spoke on the need of each resident to be their neighbour‘s keeper, and the profiling of youngsters, among other initiatives mentioned.
He spoke at length on the efficient networking that was needed to be established between the police and the community, and made available police contact numbers of stations and emergency response teams in the event of crime being committed in the area.
The meeting concluded with residents seeking more meetings of this nature with the police, since those would be aimed at establishing a better relationship between the police, policing groups and the community.
Community policing groups were formed back in 1976 under Police Commissioner Henry Fraser, but became more popular and prevalent after 1992. These groups now receive government assistance in the form of vehicles and security equipment and materials, and are widely considered an extended arm of the Guyana Police Force.
Sophia residents can now be somewhat more assured that they have not been left on their own to fight the scourge of increasing crime in their community, because they now have on their side the assurance of a more organised approach and better collaboration with representatives of the law.