–Region Three Chamber of Commerce

SOCIAL networking is providing police officers with new avenues and tools to help solve crimes while community outreaches are bearing fruit.

But during these outreaches a senior rank must be specifically assigned to register complaints and follow up from the public. This is according to President of the Region Three Chamber of Commerce, Halim Khan.

“Facebook is helping to catch criminals. Sometimes, police are able to get tips from suspects’ friends after they brag about deviant behaviour on the social networking site, detectives also gather evidence from pictures or video posted on social networks,” Khan noted.

The businessman, in an exclusive interview with this publication, explained that not only can police use social media to solve crimes, but they can also use it to help find missing, endangered or distressed people.

“What people post on their sites can often provide helpful insight into their state of mind and their intentions,” Khan noted. Because so many people now have such large online presences, he said investigators can gain new tips and insights into crimes committed in communities.

Further, he said that an important step toward solving a crime is establishing trust in the community. “A new way police are able to accomplish that goal is by creating an online presence of their own. Social media outlets take community-oriented policing to a new level by providing quick, cheap and easy ways to get important information out to followers and concerned citizens,” he underscored.

The Region Three Chamber President further said that social media also provides an avenue to help humanise police departments and show that law enforcement officers are also members of the community they serve.
“Social media can also be an effective way for agencies to highlight their officer’s accomplishments, make announcements regarding enforcement campaigns and provide messages about safety,” he said.

“If people have problems and don’t trust the police, crime fighting will become harder. The social media platform can also be used to educate the public since majority of the population would interact with each other online and information can be shared,” the businessman said.

Further, he opined that as a trusted source of public information, the police force’s social feeds also give access to fact-based information in an online world of conjecture and speculation. Khan said the prevalence of social media has made it a valuable go-to investigative tool for law enforcement, whether for small-time crimes, major issues or even murder. Further, he noted that in order to further develop communities, alternative sentencing for minor offences are needed, instead of incarcerating offenders, these persons can be of use to the state in the form of daily community service.

Meanwhile, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Force, Superintendent Jairam Ramlakhan, when contacted, noted that many social networks are currently being utilised by the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

Superintendent Ramlakhan explained that several WhatsApp groups were created since he took over as PRO. “The creation of WhatsApp police-public interface groups has been working exceptionally well, creating an unprecedented information gateway for all contacts within all divisions of the force,” he said.

He added that this results in an enhanced interaction with the public and also provides police with better local intelligence inputs.

The PRO explained that the Force’s presence is also felt on Facebook and Instagram, where many stakeholders support, as the Force address issues of crime, traffic and other law enforcement matters. Adding that under his stewardship, the Force’s Facebook page went from 2,500 to over 29,000 followers within a few years. “We respond to many queries on a daily basis from social media, our social crime prevention activities throughout the country are also being highlighted through the press and our Facebook page continuously by the PR department,” the superintendent said.

Underscoring that the Force’s PR department has increased communication between the police and public, the superintendent said next week, ranks of the department will also be benefiting from courses supervised by two reputable media consultants from the UK.

Further, the superintendent noted that “community policing is a philosophy that the GPF uses in partnerships and problem-solving techniques to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.”