— acting Top Cop reports

COMMISSIONER of Police (ag), Nigel Hoppie has credited innovative strategies employed by the Guyana Police Force for an 18.8 per cent decrease in serious crimes over the period 2020-2021.

The Top Cop, who made these statements at the opening ceremony of the Police Officers’ Annual Conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre on Thursday, noted that this reduction signals the significant work that has been undertaken by ranks of the police force.

Serious crimes include murder, robbery under arms, robbery with violence, robbery with aggravation, larceny from a person, break and enter and larceny, burglary, rape and kidnapping.

In addition to the reduction of serious crimes, the force also saw a significant 31.5 per cent reduction in the number of robberies underarms with 608 being recorded in 2021 against the 888 in 2020.

A 16.6 per cent reduction was also recorded in murders which are reflected in the 131 in 2021 against the 157 in 2020.

Hoppie noted that the force, in 2021 alone, has managed to locate and hold in its possession 71 firearms, comprising 36 pistols, 18 revolvers and 17 shotguns.

Rape was one of the major crimes that recorded an increase in 2021. In the past year, the social ill saw a significant 15.5 per cent increase with 304 occurrences in 2021 against the 202 in 2020.

Meanwhile, touching on the issue of fatal accidents, Hoppie said speeding, along with distracted or inattentive driving resulted in 87 fatal accidents for 2021.

Overall, fatal accidents saw a 32 per cent reduction in 2021 compared to 2020, with 128 in 2020 against 87 in 2021. Road accidents also saw a significant reduction with just 99 incidents in 2021, while 139 were recorded in 2020. This figure according to the Top Cop reflects the lowest recorded in the past 16 years.

Cops, in the past year, seem to have been very vigilant on the roadways.

“Traffic enforcement throughout the country last year resulted in a total of 11,708 cases for speeding, 1,097 cases for driving under the influence and 2,089 cases for unlicensed drivers among others,” Hoppie stated.

He noted that with the modernisation and upgrades to the roadways, traffic signs and road lighting being undertaken by the Ministry of Public Works, along with the law enforcement, these numbers are expected to see a further reduction in 2022.

DOMESTIC ABUSE
In 2021, officers of the GPF reviewed and responded to 1,692 reports of domestic violence, resulting in 814 cases being made and 814 persons being charged, in comparison to 1,665 reports in 2020, where 71 cases were made and 771 persons were charged.

The Commissioner noted that ranks are undergoing strategic training to ensure their preparedness to deal with cases and victims of domestic abuse. He said the Ministry of Human Service’s CopSquad 2000 Initiate is aimed at increasing the ranks’ knowledge of laws pertaining to gender-based violence and to equip them with the necessary training to deal with gender-based crimes in a manner that would protect the victims.

The programme, which will see the training of 2,000 officers from the force, seeks to ensure that once a domestic violence matter is brought to a police station, it will be handled in a manner that accords with international best practices.

He further noted that one of the recent systems put into action to tackle domestic violence is the setting up of domestic violence units at stations across the country. This, he explained, would directly serve and provide help to victims of domestic abuse.

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
Commissioner Hoppie disclosed that the police have intensified its fight against trafficking in persons (TIP) and domestic violence. He said that the force is continuing its multi-agency approach to create policies that would enable them to combat this social ill.

During 2021, the police force received 35 reports of TIP, resulting in 18 cases and 11 persons being charged; only 39 reports were received in 2020 with eight cases made and two persons charged.

According to the Top Cop, training sessions are held with ranks to keep them in line with the correct standard practices for handling issues of trafficking in persons and domestic violence.

He assured that the police force will continue to work diligently to promote security through raids, roadblocks, robust anti-crime patrol and intelligence network bolstered by divisional anti-crime units and analytical work by way of data collection through the integrated crime information system.

DRUG CONTROL
The Top Cop disclosed that during 2020, the police seized some 536 kilogrammes of cocaine, which resulted in 42 cases being made and 49 persons being charged and placed before the courts.

He stated that this was done through the establishment of frequent stop-and-search patrols, as well as divisional checkpoints that were set up to aid in drug control.

Hoppie added that 589kg of marijuana were also ceased and destroyed, of which 389 cases were made and 319 persons charged.

“Eradication operations saw 131 fields of cultivated marijuana with an estimated weight of 2.8 million kgs, along with quantities of dried cannabis with an estimated weight of 383,000 kgs found and destroyed. Eleven cases were made with 16 persons being charged before the courts,” Hoppie said.