WITH the passing of the wire tapping law, intelligence gathering for law enforcement will be significantly boosted.

Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee made this disclosure last Thursday during a press conference he hosted at his Brickdam office, Georgetown.
He stated that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) has been making resources available in that regard and they intend to utilise wire tapping more frequently as the law was passed in Parliament to facilitate intelligence driven operations which will be useful to the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
Rohee said: “We intend to use wire tapping more expansively and they will make more resources available to “informers” to provide what will be called ‘human intelligence’ to the law enforcement agency, so apart from the technological intervention there is also the human intelligence side that is required.”
The minister noted that crime fighting not only in Guyana but in many other countries depends on intelligence gathering and that is the focus they intend to pursue over the next month.
Rohee added that they also hope and are working to get the Police Reform process  to bring the requisite into actions to ensure that peace and good order  are maintained by the GPF at all times.

MOHA concerns about crimes
The minister explained that where there is a string of incidents, be it robbery under arms resulting in deaths or an individual incident, the MOHA will always be concerned about those matters because it is not insensitive.
Rohee said: “We are not numb to such eventuality and our responsibility at MOHA is to ensure that adequate resources are provided through the budget to the entities that falls under MOHA in respect to the GPF.”
He explained that the MOHA always ensures that the GPF is equipped to fulfill its lawful responsibilities and they have been doing that.

He added that the MOHA’s task is to ensure that the policy is reflective of central government in fighting and detecting crime.
Rohee pointed out that the GPF follows the policy to ensure that the peace and good order in society is maintained at all times and that threats are minimised by law enforcement agencies.

Wire tapping
The wire tapping law was passed without opposition support, while the others received the opposition support.
According to a statement from the Government Information Agency (GINA), the enactment of these new security laws is seen as vital to reducing the upsurge in crime experienced in Guyana over the recent years. It added that the laws will bring Guyana’s security legislation in line with what obtains in other jurisdictions and was called for by the security forces to aid the crime fight.
The wire tapping bill allows for the interception of communications, the acquisition and disclosure of data relating to communications and the acquisition of means by which protected communication may be accessed and placed in an intelligible form and for connected purposes. The law will effectively prohibit the interception of communication unless a warrant is issued by a judge, based on an application. Additionally, intercepted communication obtained on a warrant will also be made admissible in any criminal proceedings.
The plea bargaining law will formalise plea agreements in law and will allow for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to arrange plea agreements for the speedy disposal of cases.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Law (Procedure) (Amendment) Bill 2008 will vest in Magistrates the power to commit accused persons to trial in the High Court if a prima facie case is made out, based on written instead of oral evidence.
The paper committal law, which would also empower magistrates to discharge accused persons, has been formulated to make the committal procedure more efficient, saving the court time and costs by creating an alternative to protracted preliminary inquiries. Dec 3, 2008.
Government moves to strengthen money laundering, financing terrorism laws …includes safeguards for whistle-blowers.