–as Upper Corentyne residents protest string of robberies in their community

AS RESIDENTS of Numbers 48 and 49 villages, Corentyne (Region 6) blocked the Corentyne Highway on Sunday in protest at the alleged involvement of police ranks in a spate of robberies in the area, Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee yesterday declared that “people will react in this way so long as they lose, and continue to lose, public confidence in the police.
“It’s a battle that they (the Guyana Police Force) have to win back. That’s a police battle,” he declared.
This latest fiasco has further contributed to the lack of public confidence in the Guyana Police Force (GPF); and yesterday, at a press briefing held at Freedom House on Robb Street, Georgetown, Home Affairs Minister, Rohee disclosed that on Sunday night he had recommended to Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell that all ranks at the Number 51 Village Police Station be transferred.
He said, “I spoke to the (Police) Commissioner, drawing to him my concerns on the matter; and I made one recommendation to him, and that recommendation was that I wanted ‘a total change of guard’ at the Number 51 Police Station.”
The Home Affairs Minister added that he has also contacted the Berbice Divisional Commander, Assistant Commissioner, Brian Joseph, about the allegations being made by residents, and the consequent concerns.
Rohee noted that a week before the action taken by those Corentyne residents in reaction to the most recent robbery on Sunday night, information came into his possession that caused him concern.

RECENT INCIDENT
The most recent robbery reported in that area of the Corentyne Coast was committed on Sunday night at approximately 7.00pm, when, according to the police, four men armed with shotguns held up Lalman Ramdeen, 66, and his wife Vimlawattie Ramdeen, 62, in their grocery shop at No. 48 Village, Corentyne. During that robbery, the perpetrators discharged a number of rounds, and took away cash, jewellery and phone cards before escaping on foot. Fortunately, no one was injured in that incident.
The police statement said: “Ranks of a mobile police anti-crime patrol, in a white police motor car with flashing lights and which can be clearly identified as a police vehicle, responded to the report received. Upon reaching the village, and as the ranks arrived at the scene, residents began to claim that the police were involved in the robbery, as they had seen a white car earlier travelling in a suspicious manner.
“The residents then proceeded to block the path of the police vehicle, and also blocked the main road using two motor lorries and other materials which restricted the movement of traffic. However, Divisional Commander, Assistant Commissioner Brian Joseph, and other ranks managed to persuade the residents to remove the trucks and other materials that were blocking the roadway, and traffic is flowing freely.”
The police are presently monitoring this situation as investigations into the armed robbery continue.

VIGILANTE GROUPS
The Home Affairs Minister acknowledged that the concerns of the populace, exacerbated by the lack of confidence in the Guyana Police Force (GPF), have seen some villagers forming themselves into vigilante groups. He acknowledged the inherent danger in this practice, and stressed the need for persons to desist from engaging in it, considering its potential consequences.
“I don’t think people are opposed to Community Policing Groups, as opposed to vigilante groups. Once they are given an explanation why they should go the route of Community Policing Groups, there is not opposition,” he said.
Minister Rohee disclosed that the Home Affairs Ministry has been making efforts to discourage formation of vigilante groups, while encouraging establishment of Community Policing Groups (CPGs). “I think most people have accepted this (formation of CPGs) as the best thing…. They (GPF) have managed to successfully secure buy-in from the community,” he said.
Rohee said real efforts are being made to have liaison officers “on the ground” to continue encouraging communities to go the route of CPGs. He added that once a CPG has been established, it is facilitated with resources, including patrol vehicles, to support law enforcement and fight against criminal activities. He stressed that the GPF cannot “do it alone”, and needs the support of the community.
“I think they (police) have to get out of the ‘we-know-it-all’ syndrome…. They cannot know it all, because they are not always there at the scene of a crime when it is committed…which is why the police have to work with members of the public…. Once you stand aloof from the population, you lose,” Rohee said.
The Home Affairs Minister is currently awaiting a report from Police Commissioner Brumell on the status of his recommendation that ranks at the Number 51 Police Station be “swiftly” transferred from that station.

(By Vanessa Narine)