REGION Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) law enforcement benefitted from a training programme on crime prevention tactics that was recently held at the Leonora Secondary School auditorium.

In attendance were Station Sergeants from within the division, along with executive members of the region’s Community Policing Groups (CPG).
The session was organised by Regional Vice-Chairman, Omesh Satyanand, in collaboration with Divisional Commander, Senior Superintendent Errol Watts.

About 60 persons were in attendance and the opening remarks were made by Satyanand, who is also the Chairman of the Region Three Crime Prevention Committee. He emphasised the importance of police and public partnerships in the fight against crime and drug abuse.

Presentations were done by Assistant Superintendent (ASP), Troy Whittaker, on the art of building community relations, and Deputy Commander, Superintendent Boodnarine Persaud, on the topic of roles and responsibilities of the police and CPG members in making community-oriented policing a success in crime-fighting.

Several issues and concerns were raised by the CPG members, all of which were addressed by the divisional commander. Amongst some of the issues raised were members operating without precepts, Rural Constable applications being processed slowly, shortage of CPG vehicles in the division, request for fuel for CPG vehicles, and police ranks not cooperating with CPG members.

It was noted that Region Three has 51 active CPG groups.

In closing remarks, the divisional commander Watts outlined the administration’s expectations regarding CPG while he commended the executives and groups for their outstanding contributions toward the reduction of crime in the region.

At the conclusion of the event, handouts on crime prevention tips were distributed to all the attendees.