This year major emphasis will be placed in the Guyana Police Force on improving the rapid response systems to serious crimes, upgrading communication systems and improving its intelligence gathering and analysis capabilities.
Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee, speaking to the Government Information Agency (GINA), reiterated the need for the Guyana Police Force to improve its intelligence gathering in light of the changing nature of crime.
Rohee said intelligence gathering can allow the police to be more proactive.
This year too the GPF will also be expanding access to police and other databases and intensifying training in special operations for selected Joint Services members among other critical areas as government undertakes reforming the police force, GINA reported.
“This is not the time to be complacent … the criminal enterprise out there is still very active… The public would like to see more confrontations between the criminals and Police with the police coming out on top in every confrontation,” Rohee is quoted by GINA as saying.
He said that the dedication to providing the police with the requisite tools to fight crime will not change but he pointed to deficiencies which include a shortage of ranks and the issue of intelligence gathering.
Meanwhile, the police have recorded a decrease in gun robberies for this year which have been plaguing the country for the last decade, GINA said, but there has been an increase in murders compared to the corresponding period last year.
Last year, 2007, was regarded as one of the most successful for the police when serious crimes declined from 16 per day to 9 per day, a 24 percent decrease and the murder rate for 2007 was the lowest since 2002 with 113 for the year.
