In Region Three (Essequibo Islands, West Demerara) and Region Six (East Corentyne, Berbice), work has begun establishing CCTV surveillance camera systems infrastructure.
The systems are part of the $2 billion “Safe Country” programme that was catered for in the 2023 Budget in provisions under the National Data Management Authority (NDMA).
The “Safe Country” programme is an extension of the “Safe City Initiative” which provided for the construction of an integrated National Emergency Response Command Centre (NERCC) with a network of CCTV cameras across Georgetown.
While the NDMA is setting up the system, it is being done in collaboration with the Guyana Police Force (GPF), which will run the command centre where the cameras will be monitored.
The surveillance system is considered a valuable resource for the security forces in their fight against crime, enabling access to critical information in real-time, and improving the police response time to crises, thereby enhancing the safety and security of communities by providing security services with increased operational capabilities.
Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken, noted that while the systems are being established in Regions Three and Six for now, the ultimate aim is to see systems established in all of the 10 administrative regions.
“We’re going to mimic what we have as our command centre across all the regions, that’s going to aid in our real time crime fighting strategy. We’ve started Region three and Region six, which are in an advanced stage of completion and then we are going to go to the other regions,” Commissioner Hicken related.
The Top Cop continued: “NDMA is dealing with the camera but they are doing it in collaboration with the police. Like the main command centre, all the command centres will come under the police. We’re going to have civilian employees and police working in the command centre.”
Also speaking with this publication, Region Three Regional Commander Assistant Commissioner Mahendra Siwnarine, also commended the system for what it will mean for crime fighting and traffic monitoring in the region.
“It will definitely be an asset to the Region, which will aid our current crime and traffic posture. The use of the technology will assist in resource deployment and allow for more efficient response to situations,” Siwnarine commented.
He added: “It will assist in observing suspicious moments of persons with criminal intent, therefore allowing operators to dispatch patrols faster, and would allow us to track persons and vehicles more efficiently instead of us wasting valuable resources because of lack of information.”
