A NUMBER of serious crimes have been solved with the use of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) and in 2015 it assisted with three murders, according to Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum.“Based on the fingerprints in the system we were able to compare fingerprints found at crime scenes, we are utilizing it to its optimal,” Blanhum said.
In 2014, the United States Ambassador to Guyana, Brent Hardt officially handed over the computer AFIS system which the police have been using for some time now. The handing over of the equipment is part of the wider initiative of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), which is one pillar of a U.S. security strategy focused on citizen safety throughout the hemisphere.
Law enforcement officials noted that with the finger-printing machine no records will disappear or be degraded and the system will assist in providing evidence of the guilt of criminals, and this would add to public trust in the police and their investigative capabilities.
Since the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has been in possession of the state-of-the-art equipment, several cases have been reopened by investigators and new evidence tendered.