…unique crime-fighting mechanism bringing results – Dep. Sup Das

A VERY robust and aggressive approach to tackling serious crimes in the Police ‘C’ Division, (Conversation Tree to Abary), has resulted in that division recording a significant decrease in crime by 14%, according to its commander Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Christopher Griffith on Thursday.Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle in the company of his senior police officers, ACP Griffith said that with the new approach the force has adopted, that is, interaction with communities, the police have in recent times been able to have better intelligence gathering as persons are coming forward with information pertaining to unlawful activities within their areas.

He said that for the period January to last week, the division had recorded 17 murders as compared to 12 in 2013, while robberies with the use of firearms were recorded at 106 for the same period this year as compared to 92 for 2013. He was, however, quick to point out that while the numbers do seem larger than that of last year for murders and gun crimes, the overall calculation is what is responsible for the 14% decrease.
Gun crimes and murders are the serious crimes in the division, while breaking and entering and drunk driving are other crimes which continue to occur on a regular basis. The police in the division have, however, been working to bring those under control, according to Griffith.
He spoke of roadblocks, stop-and-search exercises and other activities which all form part of the crime -fighting strategies in the division. The division is also focusing on targeted operations, which has been complementing the other forms of policing in the division.
Commander Griffith is calling on members of the public, especially in his division, to support the police in their new approach to crime-fighting. He reiterated that persons should avoid the confrontational type of interaction with police officers and deal with ranks at the senior level; he encouraged them to make contact with him directly on telephone numbers 229 2289 or 678 3707 where information can be shared. In addition, they are encouraged to make contact with the various police stations in their areas and /or the sub-divisional officers and the traffic officer in the case of traffic offences they may observe.
The administration of ‘C’ Division has also furnished members of their community policing groups with pedal cycles to patrol areas which they in the past would usually police on foot, the commander told this publication.
Meanwhile, divisional detective Deputy Superintendent Reshi Das for his part explained that while there are various crimes being committed along the lower and upper East Coast of Demerara, the high-risk areas as identified by the division are between Beterverwagting and Sophia, which represent the No.2 Sub Division of ‘C’ Division.
The senior police officer explained that based on the assessment on the prevalence of crimes and their nature, a decision was taken to have divisional raids in selected areas; and since that approach was adopted there has been tremendous successes and in some cases charges were laid and persons placed before the courts.
Those raids have also netted drugs, weapons and other items which were either fraudulently or otherwise obtained by the persons in whose possession they were recovered. Within the past few weeks, several persons have been hauled before the courts with some being remanded and others placed on bail, depending on the offences for which they were charged, Das related.
Another method adopted by the division is the dispatching of foot patrols in certain areas, especially during a specific time which, according to the senior crime sleuth, is the time the police have been able to confirm when most crimes such as breaking and entering and opportunistic crimes are committed.
The police in the division are calling on motorists and other citizens to refrain from signalling other road users of the presence of the police and their roadblock operations in an effort to prevent them from encountering the police. The police are cautioning persons that such action does have the potential to back fire since the police might be on the verge of encountering a robber or someone who commits some other crime but because that person was alerted to the presence of the police they diverted and go undetected.
Deputy Superintendent Das told the Chronicle that with respect to the unsolved murders in the division, the police have not put up their gloves but are silently working to have those solved and persons have been coming forward with information. He, however, was quick to point out that because of the nature of the investigations, the police cannot go public with each breakthrough they make, since those have the potential to affect the investigations.
Another issue being addressed is the fact that some people are still wary of some junior police ranks who pass information back to individuals whom the police might be investigating. The senior officers of the division said that they are working to stamp that practice out and it is not just something being addressed in ‘C’ Division, but the entire Guyana Police Force.
In addition to the many crime-fighting mechanisms the division is adopting, there is the cream of the crop of ideas. ‘C’ Division has commissioned a division album where anyone who is arrested for crimes are profiled and their photographs and other critical information recorded. Those will be kept at the various police stations and when persons report matters, they are given an opportunity to browse the album to see if any of the profiled persons would have been the ones who perpetrated the crimes against them.

(By Leroy Smith )