– also to address ‘house cleaning’
Berbice’s new Commander, Stephen Merai, is “up and running” with a new strategy to bring crime under control but says he needs to do some “cleaning out” of the force.
In an exclusive interview with Stabroek News last week the commander outlined some aspects of the strategy he has developed in order to make Berbice a safer place and said it would require the full co-operation of the ranks and members of the public.
However, he has been receiving some negative feedback from residents regarding the ranks and said that this was a “stumbling block.” Members of the public had reported to him that they did not have confidence in the police, but “if I decide to listen to all these people,” he said, “I would have to shut down all the stations.” He went on to say, “I am doing some in-house focus and cleaning up… I have to work to rebuild that relationship [with residents] so we can work together and have that intelligence coming from them because they have to assist us.”
He also commented that the “law allows us to be flexible now and again” and persons could be warned instead of being charged.
Merai told this newspaper that “in-house cleaning” had already occurred at the Springlands Police Station where two police officers had been arrested and charged with allegedly committing indecent assault on a 15-year-old girl. The same night a 16-year-old boy was alleged to have raped the girl at the station after she had been detained for wandering. He too had been charged. The police had said initially that the boy was a rural constable, but later corrected this to explain he was just a handyman. “We have made massive changes at Springlands; the entire structure has been taken over by a new set of police who replaced those who neglected their duties.” The station is now headed by Assistant Superintendent Murray.
He said “such activities would be ongoing. As fast as the people report and we have the evidence we will take action to ensure that they [officers] stay in line and do the job as required by them within the ambit of the law.”
Asked how the boy could have got access to the station to commit the alleged act, Merai said “that was total slackness and neglect.” There were allegations too that the officers and the boy had been drinking there at the time.
In response to the question about whether a female at that age can be placed in the lock-ups for such an offence, he replied that she could, but in a separate cell and a female police officer must be on duty. In this case, he said the girl had been placed on a bench.
The commander urged residents to contact him any time with information on suspicious activities and said he was available at his office every day including weekends and at night. “I am there to serve and protect the citizens of Berbice and to uphold and maintain the law. I can’t do it alone; I need every bit of assistance from the communities in terms of gathering intelligence that would help greatly in the execution of our duties,” he said.
All the residents needed to do, he continued, was provide him with the information and “we would go out and do the work… because we are the policemen and it is required of us.”
He emphasized that he worked seven days per week and the public was free to come and see him and would find him at the office on Sundays and even at night. “I am available; I am not a commander that has a special day [to meet persons]. Since I took office there has been a long line of persons waiting to see [me]” he said.
Strategy
Recognizing that most of the crimes were connected to drugs he said, “I am currently doing an assessment and working on a strategy to destroy the drug trade.” I have already spoken to “all the station sergeants and we are preparing a plan which would go into action very soon.”
According to Merai, “The aim is to put a dent in the trade and at the same time focus on known characters and criminal activities. I hope that during the operation the crime reports would be reduced.”
The strategy would help with the gathering of intelligence so that gang members could be pinpointed and the gangs could be dismantled. Merai told Stabroek News that “within the strategy there is a built-in mechanism in the operational plan that would assist us in getting to know who are involved in criminal activities.”
After implementing the strategy, he said, they would go back to the drawing board to decide what amendments needed to be done. He noted that there were a lot of bottom-house “drug pushers who sell drugs to anyone, including the schoolchildren and I am not happy with the police’s reaction to the flourishing trade that is going on.”
According to Berbice’s top cop there are numerous pushers all around East and West Berbice and the spin-off was creating a lot of problems for the police as well as the communities.
He said the students involved in purchasing the drugs and smoking in school end up stealing from their parents, then the neighbours and others, and eventually they become engaged in other criminal activities.
Referring to the inaction of some officers, he said a farmer who had made a report about cattle rustling since September had visited him to make a new complaint because nothing was done then.
He said the farmer was in the backdam at Black Bush Polder when a few men on horses approached and fired shots at him. The farmer escaped and he returned the next day to discover 70 of his cows missing. Further, the farmer heard that a truck with cows and the driver had been held at the Whim Police Station and when he checked he recognized his cows from the brand. He did not get the animals and when he returned to the station later the truck and driver as well as the cows were gone.
Anti-crime patrols
The commander, who residents feel has a “no nonsense approach to crime” told this newspaper, “We have to take a grip of the situation. A lot of people are coming in for Christmas and they [bandits] target these foreigners.”
The squads operating from the Tactical Services Unit as well as the local squads are “now being programmed and brought abreast with the crime situation in Berbice. They are being briefed daily by the detectives and are given instructions about what is expected of them when they go out in the field…”
He said he was also trying to “boost them [squads] up with manpower and I am doing some shifting around by including ranks that were trained with tactical manoeuvres to be on the vehicles.”
There would be the usual anti-crime patrols and roadblocks but these were now being stepped up for the Christmas season. The commander said he had also seen the need for more traffic ranks to be on the road. “I know they are short but I told the Traffic Chief [Owen Trotz] that officers who were working in the offices must come out on the road during the peak period.” He also noted that within the period he had been in Berbice, the number of traffic offences, including speeding, had increased.
According to him the radar gun was a lot more in use and the breathalyzer would also be put into action more on the roads especially on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
He pointed out that five persons had been arrested for drunk driving within a few days and he wanted more persons to be prosecuted for the offence, including the patrol ranks who had been reportedly seen drinking on duty. “I would use the breathalyzer on the ranks too; it is not only for civilians. As long as there are reports that the ranks are in uniform and are drinking we would use the breathalyzer on them and they would face the full brunt of the law just like the civilians.”
