Almost three years after the launch of the Crime Stoppers Programme (CSP) that was expected to aid local security, it has been shelved after its implementation was deemed to be too expensive, Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee said yesterday.

“The programme has not gone any where,” he admitted to reporters during a press conference.

He explained that one condition of the programme is that the calls have to be routed through an overseas service provider, so as to protect the identity of the persons giving the information if not the local number or the person could be identified. The programme facilitates the passage of information regarding criminal activity from citizens to the police, based on anonymity and it has been successful in reducing and preventing crime worldwide. “What  we found when we examined what it would cost to route those calls either through Mexico, the United States or the Philippines, the cost was exorbitant,” Rohee explained. He said the proprietary team that was set up concluded that they did not have the capacity to raise the funds on a monthly basis to offset the cost for the phone calls.

The minister also revealed that a check with the service providers overseas revealed that not only did the calls have to be paid for but they would also have to pay to retain the service.

The team found that they were not prepared to assume such responsibility. “So that [the programme] has not gotten anywhere nor have we gotten off the ground,” the minister said.

Guyana had joined other Caribbean countries in its attempt to implement the crime stoppers programme to combat crime through effective collaboration among the community, the media and the police.

Meanwhile, Rohee announced that the e-trace system, which is expected to make the tracing of illegal firearm easier, is off the ground. He said that the police have identified the counterparts who will get access to the secure website on the Guyana and US sides. “That is off the ground and collaboration is taking place,” the minister said.

Guyana had signed onto the US initiative in partnership with the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to facilitate the electronic tracing of illicit firearms under a system last year May.

eTrace is a paperless firearm trace submission system that is accessible through a secure internet connection. It allows for submitting, retrieving, storing and querying firearms trace-related information, providing for the systematic tracing of firearms recovered from crime scenes.