Canada yesterday donated $3m worth of items- including video analysis equipment – to the Guyana Police Force to bolster the fight against crime.
A statement from the police said that the equipment included crime scene kits, six Canon cameras and an Ocean System hardware and software system. It was all valued at CDN$22,000 ($3,043,280) and handed over by High Commissioner of Canada to Guyana, Pierre Giroux, to Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan at the Police Officers Training Centre, Eve Leary.
The donation is part of Canada’s “Strengthening the Guyanese Criminal Justice System” project being implemented by Canadian NGO, the Justice Education Society (JES).
The release noted that the JES project aims to increase evidence-led investigations. The JES is currently conducting its second set of training activities with the Guyana Police Force on Major Case Management, Forensic Video Analysis and Crime Scene Management.
Giroux, the release said, underlined the importance of having the requisite tools to implement the knowledge gained through training and highlighted the particular usefulness of the forensic video analysis equipment which will draw upon on the numerous Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras around Georgetown. The equipment will enable officers in the newly established Forensic Video Analysis Unit to pull the relevant video footage and enhance images.
Canada, through its Anti-Crime Capacity Building Programme, is providing CDN$750,000 ($106 million) to JES to implement this project over two years. The project is being implemented in collaboration with the Ministries of Public Security and Legal Affairs, as well as the Office of the Chancellor of the Judiciary, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Guyana Police Force.
