— under Strengthening the Criminal Justice System in Guyana project

THE Guyana Police Force has recorded successes in the new crime-fighting strategies which it has adopted through the `Strengthening the Criminal Justice System in Guyana’project.
The `project is funded by the US Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) and aims to strengthen the integrity and responsiveness of Guyana’s justice system.

It contributes towards this goal in two areas: by improving the investigation of crime scenes, case preparation, and trial advocacy, and ensuring media and public support for justice system reform; and by developing the capacity of the Guyanese criminal justice system to collect and analyse CCTV camera digital evidence recorded at a crime scene.

To this end, a project success story titled “Eyes on Crime” has been produced with support from the US Government, which it is seeking to make public, a release from the GPF stated.

The film, the release noted, “captures some of the most impressive outcomes bringing together the criminal justice system and the public in the area of forensic video analysis”.

Before the project, the GPF had collected video evidence but did not have the necessary technology or specialised training to analyse it; however, through JES forensic video analysis (FVA) equipment and training to the police, public prosecutors and magistrates were provided.

At the same time, the project also created public service announcements to make sure that the public understands the value of forensic video and is willing to cooperate with the police, the release added.

Listed among the successes as a result of the efforts, was the successful prosecution of an armed robbery in Linden. On the eve of New Year’s Day 2017, Trevor Campbell, who was the victim in that incident, was enjoying a night out with his friends in the busy Mackenzie Market area. And, as Campbell was walking past some clothing shops, three men armed with guns, approached and threatened him. In the process one of the robbers ripped off his gold chains and drove away, the release detailed.

VIDEO FOOTAGE

Bystanders who had witnessed the robbery observed that a CCTV camera from a store was overlooking the street, and along with Campbell, they engaged the owner for help to review the footage to ascertain whether the incident was captured.

The release noted that not only did the video exist but it also captured the robbers’ appearance in high detail.

Also, the storeowner in realising they were in possession of a valid piece of evidence, decided to put the video online with hopes that someone would have recognised the suspects. The footage went viral, spreading quickly through social media and local media, the release stated.

Meanwhile, GPF investigative sleuths retrieved the video which they sent to the FVA unit for processing.

“There, forensic video isolated close-up images of the suspects’ faces and shared [them] with investigators to aid in identification,” and as the officers worked closely together on the investigation, one of them recognised the man in the video as Shawn Archibald,” the police said.

The GPF in emphasising the need for cooperation from the public in getting a crime solved, stated: “If you’ve got some information, somebody got information; it will go far in helping the police solving a lot of crimes because instead of just the Police Force, you have the public assisting the police.”

The results of the social media search, according to the GPF, supported the preliminary identification as social media users were also able to name the robber and this information was passed to the police. Armed with such details, the police were able to move quickly and carry out an arrest.

But, arresting the suspect was only the beginning of the process, the release pointed out, adding that “the police had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person who was arrested was the same person who was captured on video committing the crime. That is where forensic video analysts put their technical skills to the test. They isolated images of the suspect’s tattoos from the video and overlaid them for comparison with the photos of Shawn Archibald’s tattoos that the police made during the arrest,” the release further stated.

COMPELLING EVIDENCE

It was pointed out that as a result of compelling evidence by analyst Gary Jordan, who testified in the Linden Magistrate’s Court, as he presented his comparative analysis, resulted in Archibald’s defence lawyer advising him to change his plea to guilty.

In May 2018, Shawn Archibald was sentenced to four years in prison for the offence of armed robbery. However, as at July 2018, he was still on trial for other crimes that were uncovered as a result of investigations into the Linden robbery.

As part of the investigation, the GPF said, its detectives examined the car used by the robbers on the night of the crime and observed that the identification numbers of the said vehicle were altered to hide its identity.

As such, the investigators successfully worked with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to identify the vehicle and locate the rightful owner of a car, “who was a victim of carjacking in November 2017”. This discovery linked the robbers to a wave of across Guyana in 2017- 2018.

The GPF noted that investigations into the carjacking ring involves multiples suspects across Guyana and extends far beyond the single case of Shawn Archibald.

“The outcomes of the carjacking investigation are yet to be seen, but one lesson for the future is clear: collaboration within the GPF and with the public is a critical component of successful cases,” the police said.