POLICE Divisional Commander Calvin Brutus, at the helm of the East Berbice/ Corentyne region, disclosed that ranks broke a criminal network within the New Amsterdam/Canje area.

Police had recorded 49 reports of ‘break and enter and larceny’, compared with 24 for the corresponding period last year.

18-year-old Tyrese Gonsalves, a repeat offender, of Plantation Mount Sinai, commonly referred to as Angoy’s Avenue, has been charged with nineteen counts of ‘break and enter and larceny’.

However, Brutus has expressed concern over the involvement of juveniles and young persons, who are used by adults to perpetrate criminal acts.

“We had reason to arrest an 11-year-old, about a month ago, for four counts of ‘break and enter and larceny’ in New Amsterdam. He seemed to be a stray offender. He has not been forthcoming with any information, and we have had to follow the guidelines with respect to questioning juveniles,” he said.

The Juvenile Act has a number of measures which must be implemented before a case is taken to court, such as sending the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions within 48 hours. An advice may be forthcoming depending on the category of the crime, and a period of counselling may be ordered.

“Rarely for those offences they go to the Court unless they are repeat offenders, and they show a pattern of criminal behaviour,” Brutus emphasised.

“With respect to serious crimes, we have had an overall increase. However, it is notable in two particular areas such as murder (2019- 7, 2020- 10) and ‘break and enter’ (2019 – 24, 2020- 49) which is almost doubled,” he said.

The area of great concern is New Amsterdam and the East Canje. Several arrests were made with respect to ‘break and enter and larceny’.

It was also observed that many of the stolen articles are sold up the Berbice river, hence the focus of the Guyana Police Force in those areas. Several items, which were reportedly stolen, were recovered during eradication operations. Police have recovered televisions and other electronic gadgets, which were used on the farms, and which came from proceeds of crime.

Further, Brutus stated while the police are solving many of the reported matters, there are some delays in getting the matters to be heard in the courts, as there are only four categories of offences listed to be heard during the curfew period, and ‘break and enter’ is not under those categories.