Beefing up the security sector
THE Guyana Police Force yesterday unveiled the new $60M Data Centre which is expected to be the epicentre of a modernised and massive information sharing and gathering network throughout the country.

Delivering the feature address at a ceremony in the compound of Police Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown, Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee observed that the commissioning of the Centre represents another milestone in the effort of the Government of Guyana to stand by its commitment to rapidly modernise the Guyana Police Force to meet current and future needs of society.

He noted that the investment in the project is significant, but should not be looked at in isolation; it must be seen as part of the process of improvement of the security sector of Guyana.

So far, through the Citizen Security programme, government has invested US$12M in the Guyana Police Force, and it is expected that with the establishment of the Centre, there will be linkages with appropriate agencies of the State, Minister Rohee said.

“A few weeks ago we commissioned twelve remodelled police stations in Regions 4 and 6, within the Citizen’s Security Programme. We are aware that law enforcement agencies, and in particular police forces around the world, are confronted with challenges under circumstances that are constantly evolving.

“This new environment requires enlightened approaches and strategies to face those difficulties.”

He noted that in today’s world, public safety is pivotal to the development of any country and its economy, adding that unless there is stability in society, the level of growth required to enhance the welfare of citizens would not be achieved.

The Minister pointed out, “With these factors in mind, the Government has recognised that the Guyana Police Force must be in a position to effectively maintain law and order in our country and has been investing heavily in the Force’s modernisation.”

Minister Rohee stated that in addition to significant capital and current expenditure by the State on the Force over the years, other strategies have been developed to boost spending on the GPF.

He said one of the avenues that was available was collaboration with the International Development Bank (IDB) in the implementation of the Citizen Security Programme, which has in its delivery three major components: institutional modernisation of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Crime and Violence prevention through Community-based intervention, and the modernisation of the Guyana Police Force.

Yesterday’s commissioning of the Data Centre, the Minister informed, forms part of the process of modernisation, which is also slated to boost the operations, in terms of policy decisions, of the Home Affairs Ministry.

“It has been recognised that if any organisation is to be successful in its operations, it must have at its disposal an efficient and effective management information system,” he added.

The Minister stated that the Data Centre will be a central repository of data critical to the operations to the Guyana Police Force, such as statistical data about crime and traffic and other important matters. These will be transmitted and stored for analysis, dissemination and usage by the managers of the Force and other critical users within the organisation.

“This Data Centre will provide quick access to information that could be used to guide the operations and management of the Force…what is critical however its usage. If the data is not properly formulated and presented in an appropriate manner, it could become useless.

“The information received and documented from this centre must be timely and management friendly if it is to serve the purpose for which it is intended,” the Minister stated.

He added that the equipment at the centre is adequate for the purpose for which it is intended, but a few issues need to be recognised, one being that the security features of the equipment must be under constant review to prevent them from being compromised.

Minister Rohee added that another such issue is that of the changing face of technology, expressing that this was taken into account when the equipment for the facilities were procured.

The issue of training is another consideration, the Minister stated, adding that there is the need for constant training to be organised to ensure that properly trained staff is always available to keep the various systems operational.

Commissioner of Police Henry Greene also pointed to the need for training to play a pivotal role in the setting up of the Data Centre, noting that it will be the bed-rock of all the improvements and the developments being made in the Force.

“A lot of what we do has to be captured … information has to be passed and that helps us to work, and with the Data Centre coming into being, it means we can better coordinate the flow and the speed of the flow of that information, and we can better work, we can better access.

“I see it as important because it will improve public safety, it will make our streets safer, it will reduce deaths, it will assist us in all the other objectives that we have set ourselves within the Force, it’s another step in the right direction,” the Commissioner observed.

He noted that eighteen different Information Technology centres have since been opened at various police stations and police headquarters throughout the country, where the technology has been introduced, and this will link these stations along with the Home Affairs Ministry.

He stated that the Criminal Investigation Department has already been linked to several computers, and will soon be linked into the system and that information flow will support the work of the police, and will be critical.

Already there is talk about linking the 90 police outposts in the country, which will likely take a bit longer, some due to their remote locations, the Commissioner said.

He added that those areas that can take the technology have already been linked, adding that this flow will assist communications at the country’s border as a lot of information is communicated locally and abroad as it relates to movement into and out of the country’s borders.

Coordinator of the Citizens Security Procedure, Khemraj Rai, in brief remarks, stated that with the equipment being in place now and ready for use, one other critical area is the training of people to manage these systems.

“We have on the cards a training programme for trainers of the Guyana Police Force; that contract is about to be signed.

“We also have on board an institutional modernisation of the Guyana Police Force, which has to do with personnel function and other areas internal to the administration of the Guyana Police Force,” the CSP Coordinator said.

In the near future, the Force is looking to establishing a modern training facility as well as a forensic laboratory, Rai said.