NEW Crime Chief, Senior Superintendent of Police Leslie James said, Wednesday, that, since he assumed the position, he has adopted a hands-on approach as it relates to the job.

In an interview at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters, at Eve Leary, Georgetown, he said serious crimes ought to be viewed and treated like that and the approach, by ranks within the unit and the wider Force, is to collaborate with other agencies to bring all perpetrators to justice.

James added that the strategy is to make criminals think twice before committing crimes, meaning they should ponder if they would be able to escape easily.
He explained that, sometimes, perpetrators commit a crime and cannot be found; gets off in the Court of Law, so the police, generally, will be engaged in embracing the Laws of Guyana and the pursuit would be relentless.
James said he has indicated to the ranks that this approach has to be maintained because crime is faceless and must be viewed as such while looking at it as a scourge in society.
He maintained it must be so treated and the ranks are expected to execute their duties from a holistic point of view, since the citizenry looks at the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to deliver at a high standard and they will be measured by their performance.
James added: “I wish to say, too, time and time again, our ranks have had overseas training in various disciplines and, upon their return, modules are put together for sessions to benefit those who were not similarly exposed.”

Foster experience

The Crime Chief said that that is how they are seeking to foster experience within the CID but not leaving out other sections of the Force, because the fight against crime is an inter-agency collaborative effort.
He intimated that they will be working closely with the Joint Services since the combination is required in many cases, as criminals are going out to remote places and committing serious crimes on miners and others in those communities.
Asked about staffing and equipment for the CID, James said it is, presently, staffed to capacity with trained personnel and, as the Ministry of Home Affairs rolls out the plans for the modernisation of the GPF, training is slated as one of the priorities in the welcome strategic development.
As for the equipment, he said they have but will not refuse additions, like the recently acquired Automated Fingerprint Equipment Identification System (AFIS) which will aid in the solution of many crimes.
James said the AFIS has, indeed, made an impact on crimes, including murders, burglaries and more, in the investigations of which they have had several successes.
“People are aware of what we have to do and they would appreciate that they must be patient with us, since it is a job that is intelligence led and we seek to have things done in a more deliberate fashion to reduce loss of man hours and wastage of resources,” he asserted, adding that, based on information obtained, they can deal with reports more decisively.