Dear Editor,
The newspapers carried Yusuf Mohamed’s lament on the waning of Community Policing Groups(CPGs) in which he bemoaned the dormancy of officials. This dormancy noted Mohamed accounted for the few active groups now functioning. In a previous widely publicized article on “Community Policing Groups (CPGs) Misunderstood” in response to Rickford Burke’s allegation that the PPP government was ‘arming their supporters,’ I had given a fair background account of the formation and function of CPGs during the sixties and right on into the eighties.
Just a little over three years ago, since Ex-Commissioner Floyd Mc Donald, there were approximately 400 CPGs with a membership of over three thousand in the nation.This was the most vibrant period of CPG’ activities since the sixties. By 2006, CPGs have frighteningly reduced with just a fraction of the 400 groups really functioning. Who really lost the vision here? Clearly, the authorities lost a glorious opportunity to muster a hefty body of manpower (3000 strong) to help in crime prevention in the nation.
The most recent move with the Citizens Security Programme (CSP), expected to command a budget of US$19.8 million, begs the question of how much was ever spent to strengthen the already effective CPG in the past. More revealing, CPG’s have been abandoned for a host of subsequent programmes all ushered with myriad of highfalutin provisions, which were quickly exhausted without the expected results. What would make CSP different? Whatever would make it work should now be expended and infused into the CPGs. We can surely learn from others, but should not seek to wholesale transplant their methods/solutions.
Kaieteur News January 9, 2007 carried the report of a successful response of the Better Hope CPG in apprehending criminals who tortured and robbed a Better Hope family. Several other such instances abound. It seems, however, that as soon as word gets around of a new approach from somewhere else, the entire gamut of past moves is sidelined and the authorities swallow the new (hook, line and sinker) to the detriment of what was working there before. The time has come for all to realize that the solution must be homegrown as were the CPGs.
Such easy abandonment further speaks of the inability of the authorities to stay focused on a viable crime solution. Is the CSP approach final or would there be more names or acronyms forthcoming with the quest for solutions to the scourge of crimes in Guyana? The need is not for any new thing, but for shoring up what was there all the while, with the necessary expertise, organizing, training, equipment and funding.
Gross dereliction was first seen when there was never any drastic action to rout the prison break-out criminals, who were hunkered down in Buxton. Two prime agencies are immediately blamable for the escalating scourge of crime since. On one hand, there were several cases of police inaction to crimes as were the cases in Albion and Vigilance. This led to several brazen ‘copy-cat’ crimes with criminals even using knives and toy guns to rob homes with impunity.
On the other hand, the GDF, our major security agency, further compounded the issue by backing out on its duty to the citizens, who pay for their upkeep overtime through their taxes. In my other response to David Granger on “Arming CPGs is a recipe for civil war,” I dealt with the excuse of Granger’s, invoking archaic military protocol and the calling for amnesty. Can anyone honestly convince the nation that the terrorists would surrender their weapons? Although COS, E Collins actually concurred with the need for army action, only in late 2006 was such action forthcoming.
Apart from the wanton abandonment of various efforts, there is convincing evidence of the absence of a national priority action by the Administration. The catalogue of terrorist crimes since March 2002 includes broad daylight raids on businesses, the random murders of businessmen and unarmed citizens, drug/gang wars, three major massacres (Agricola residents, Kaieteur News staff, and the Sawhs family) and piracy on the high seas. Crime never did receive the all out due response of the security agencies.
Neglect of ‘Rapid
Response’
Recommendations
We need to stop being reactive and be proactive against crimes. We need to revisit the Disciplined Services Commission Report to ascertain how much was picked up from the 1964 ICJ Report, and how much of the DSC recommendations were implemented. I pointed out before that we have a case of organized internal terrorism in the nation that should be the government’s priority for action; that they respond with crime as a national emergency. Here was a case of actual treason against the state without army action. Did not the terrorists declare themselves Freedom Fighters?
In passing, it is quite interesting to compare the military quick response, which quelled the Rupununi Uprising in 48 hours. Why didn’t the army /authorities take the corresponding quick response action on the Resistance Fighters based in Buxton? It is further interesting to note that, (a) Several experts / specialists since made recommendations, which apparently ‘fell on deaf ears,’
(b) The alarm was sounded ‘loud and clear’ since the prison break-out fiasco, that if no immediate decisive action was taken the people would face an unbearable national scourge.
A Gamut of Crime
Fighting Moves
Because of persistent shortsightedness, the authorities were apparently ‘romancing’ with a gamut of crime fighting moves. A look at the other efforts convincingly tells the tale of neglect of the one agency, the CPGs, which had the best promise. There are a number of issues which impact the waning of CPGs.
The several piecemeal moves to address the crime situation were all at best superficial. We have to first ascertain whether escalating crime is a priority issue and if so what priority action is needed? Compared to development projects, which are guzzling up billions, the safety and security of the people is virtually on the back burner on the nation’s agenda.
We may need to suspend some development projects to secure the gains of the people in particular and the nation at large. The citizens are decimated by crime, and are migrating at an appalling rate because of crime. Due to this, foreign investors are repelled in their desire to invest, treating the nation as taboo.
Counter Terrorism
Skills Available
On the crime situation, before the Rose Hall bank robberies, the only major action to neutralize criminals that bore decisive results was the action supposedly of some alleged drug lord and his “squad”. While many voices sounded about this ‘Drug lord’ and death squad etc, these operatives proved that there are methods, known by the trained men (in and out of the military and police force) who could deal with the issue of neutralizing the terrorists in the nation.
Is it not the same army and police force (and external agencies) which executed the training of the ex-soldiers and police officers who were operating as terrorists? With some added effort, we see also how results could be forthcoming as with the Rose Hall Banks robbers.
Yours faithfully,
Seopaul Singh
Certified Security
Management
Professional
