…Min Ramjattan talks up investment in technology, training of ranks

By Lisa Hamilton

THE Government can boast of a much higher rate of serious crime cases being successfully “cleared up” thanks to its investment in technology and training.
Serious crimes which affect Guyana are identified as murder, robbery, robbery under arms, robbery with violence, robbery with aggravation, larceny, break and enter and larceny, rape, burglary, kidnapping and piracy.

On Thursday, Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, stated that in 2015, the number of serious crimes reported stood at 3,900 and this figure was reduced to 2,373 by 2019.
The statistics show that there was a 29 per cent cleared-up rate of these crimes in general. Some of these by percentages include: robbery under arms – 37 per cent; robbery with violence – 47 per cent; murder – 77 per cent; larceny – 21 per cent; rape – 53 per cent.

“These people have been identified, they’ve been charged [and] some charges are still pending,” he said. Both Ramjattan and Minister of Public Telecommunications, Cathy Hughes, said, on Thursday, that one of the key initiatives which has dealt a big blow in serious crimes is the Smart City Programme.

The security project has already seen over 100 Close Circuit Television (CCTV) high-technology security cameras being installed around the country, particularly the capital– Georgetown. The cameras have been credited with solving a number of criminal activities around the country. Ramjattan said that in hotspot areas, crimes such as robberies, pick-pockets and larceny, have reduced. The high-tech cameras are able to zoom to better identify a person and this has significantly increased detection rates. “The fellas out there know that they got a camera out there and they’re shifting…the Smart City Programme has had a deterrent effect,” he said.

MORE REPORTS BEING MADE

Meanwhile, Minister Hughes said that the system is now being used by many persons to make reports to the police based on the criminal activities they were affected by and the fact that a camera was there to record the act.

“Because of the network that we’ve created, we are able to track incidences that take place in many areas,” she said. “This is a real example [of someone who told me] that ‘I parked my car on the bridge, I woke up the next morning, the car was gone’. The police are able, because of the network, to see where that car left, that it went across the Harbour Bridge at whatever time.”

Ramjattan used the occasion to debunk the position whereby some have tried to link the reduction in serious crimes to a reduction in reporting. Instead, he told the media: “The report rates have increased because of the fact that we are catching them and this thing about them not being reported and people are not reporting them because the police is doing nothing, that’s not true. More and more crimes have been reported now because of the fact that we are catching the criminals.”

A WELL-EDUCATED FORCE
When it comes to the men and women employed, Ramjattan said that the government is desirous of a Police Force which is advised and managed by professionals. In 2018, 31 members of the GPF graduated from the University of Guyana (UG) while another 24 graduated in 2019; 2 of whom received Master’s Degrees. This year, the Ministry of Public Security is looking forward to the graduation of 30 more officers.

Bolstering their personal efforts is the government’s encouragement of GDF officers to participate in training opportunities which, the minister said, was not conducted at the present high rate in the past. In 2015, a total of 2,364 received scholarships and/or in-service training through the local Justice Education Programme sponsored by USAID. In 2016, the number increased to 2,600; in 2017, it rose to 3,400 and in 2019 the figure stood at 4,100.

“That shows that we want improved quality of service from each rank and file member and also officers,” the Public Security Minister said. “You make the contrast; you make the contrast. Our Administration has been far superior and that superiority has also been reflected with a decline in serious crimes and homicides rates in this country.”

He reminded that moving from 150 murders in 2015, the government reduced this to 111 by 2018. While the figure went up to 121 in 2019, Ramjattan said that almost 35 per cent of those were domestic homicides as a result of interpersonal violence. The Minister said: “We have done very well and we want to keep that decline in the crime rate further going downwards and it could only, in my opinion, be if we continue what we have started in 2015, namely ensure that more and more academics are now in our police force.”