By Leroy Smith
MINISTER of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan says the Guyana Police Force is moving to accelerate training of recruits through a more compact academy programme but without diminishing its quality.The force loses some 300 ranks a year as they secure visas or acquire jobs with more lucrative salaries. The attrition rate, he noted, is almost half of the total number trained annually.
“We are going to fast-track certain courses at the police academy — instead of six months training do them in four months so that we can produce more policemen and women trained at the academy as part of the strategy; so if at every batch we produce 300. Instead of 300 every six months, we will have 300 every four months,” the Minister of Public Security explained.
He said that the plans are all there and it is now a matter of ensuring that they are executed.
He said further that government will support any initiative of the Guyana Police Force and other agencies under the purview of the Ministry of Public Security to have on-the-job training, both locally and overseas.

CCTV CAMERAS
Meanwhile, one of the approaches to the problem of a manpower shortage is fast-tracking the installation of CCTV cameras around the country in an effective manner, especially in the city, which would be properly monitored 24/7.
“In the meantime we are going to fast-track certain initiatives in the new year and I hope that we can start rolling out and fast-tracking the CCTV cameras for Georgetown, because if you do have those cameras on all the streets of Georgetown, it’s like having 2000 permanent policemen and women watching over the entire city and that would be great and it will have a deterrent effect on crime,” the Public Security Minister explained.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
The recently launched ‘Operation Dragnet’ is not just the responsibility of the members of the armed forces, Mr Ramjattan noted, pointing out that persons need to understand that they too have a role in ensuring their personal security and that of their families and communities.
“We are urging people, members of the community, our citizens to also be on alert to be ready to notice the suspicious characters around, to notice who are going to do their mischief, who are going to organise violent crimes and to inform the police and other law- enforcement agencies,” the Public Security Minister stressed during an interview with the Guyana Chronicle.
However, he acknowledged the challenge of dealing with the barrier between some residents and the police, but law enforcement personnel have been working to ‘mend fences’ and have been netting successes in this regard.
Mr Ramjattan asserted that it is for this reason that the government is looking to cleanse the force of rogue elements who make the process harder for law- abiding citizens to get along with the genuine police ranks and senior officers.

PUBLIC CONFIDENCE
He reminded too that during an operation like ‘Operation Dragnet’ the confidence of the public in the Police Force must be at an all-time high and so there will be no compromise with those who seek to hurt that relationship by way of negative behaviours.
“Yes, some police are still bullying at times but we are trying our best to solve that so that the people out there can be confident that they can talk to the police and tell them a number of things, such as who have the unlicensed guns, who are planning some mischief tonight, where, and things like that,” Mr Ramjattan told the Chronicle.
Mr Ramjattan said that there is no doubt that there is need for Community Policing Groups to be involved in supporting the work of the Police and all other agencies taking part in ‘Operation Dragnet’.
The minister also noted the obligation of citizens to support ‘Operation Dragnet’ and to ensure that they look out for their communities and play a role in supporting the reduction of crime.
He made reference to the incident in Mahaicony last month, when the residents and the Community Policing Group collaborated in nabbing a gang of robbers who had terrorised the owner and staff of a supermarket.
In that instance, the residents and the CPG members forced the suspects into a bushy area as they waited for backup by the police, who eventually came and were able to make arrests.
Mr Ramjattan said that once all measures are rolled out properly for both ‘Operation Dragnet’ and in the long-term, that will contribute to bringing Guyana back on track in all spheres and when it comes to the bigger problem of crime and security, everything will fall into place eventually and become manageable.