FORT Wellington now boasts a brand-new, $201 million state-of-the-art police station that will also act as the headquarters for Regional Division Five (Mahaica-Berbice).

Acting Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken, in his remarks at the commissioning ceremony on Monday, said that the facility is intended to be “more user-friendly”.

According to the ‘Top Cop’, the divisional headquarters includes a Domestic Violence Office, Witness Protection Room, a Case Management Room, an Automated Case Management System, and an Integrated Criminal Information System.

The new building was built in line with the Guyana Police Force’s objectives for decentralisation, Commissioner Hicken noted.

“I am seeing here members of the public; I am seeing here representatives of the Joint Services. I am seeing here members of the faith-based organisations, and this gives me comfort to see that the Guyana Police Force is no longer working in isolation,” he said.

On this note, he congratulated the Division’s Commander, Assistant Commissioner Kurleigh Simon for a job well done.

“Commander, this is the posture of the leadership of the Guyana Police Force, and this partnership effort must be maintained,” the ‘Top Cop’ urged Commander Simon.

He further indicated that the Police Force is working assiduously to meet the needs of the public, and as such, the Force is moving towards contemporary policing.

The newly-constructed Divisional Headquarters at Fort Wellington, which was cost in the vicinity of $201 million, is fully equipped with a Child-Friendly Interview Room, a Child-Friendly Waiting Room, Listening Room, Sexual Offence Interview Room, Sexual Offence/Domestic Violence Office and Waiting Room, Domestic Violence Interview Room, Case Management Room, Witness Room, Juvenile Female Holding Cell, Female Holding Cell, Juvenile Male Holding Cell, Male Holding Cell, along with the other amenities that a station should be equipped with.

Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn, in his feature address, said it is anticipated that these additional characteristics of the police station will significantly enhance the Guyana Police Force’s capacity to combat crime effectively.

He said that the police would be in a better position to protect and assist citizens with this new structure. Minister Benn also pointed out that the facility was constructed to ensure efficient policing in the community.

He also alluded to the government’s unwavering commitment, tangibly represented through budgetary allocations, to ensure the best environment is created with cutting-edge technology and SMART Police stations, as well as additional vehicles for the GPF to efficiently carry out its important mandate to ‘serve and protect’.

Minister Benn pointed out that the government has thus far taken the necessary steps to improve the resources of the Force.

“Members of the Guyana Police Force are the peacekeepers in Guyana, and I would like everyone to remind themselves that they are the peacekeepers. We must have peace in Guyana. We must have a reduction in crimes and murder as well,” Minister Benn charged.