There have been no reports of piracy in the first quarter of the year and the police have credited this to the resuscitation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Piracy and the Inter-Agency Maritime Surveillance Programme.
In a press release yesterday, the Guyana Police Force said that these have led to a number of initiatives which have “impacted positively in the fight against piracy.”
Meanwhile, it has been reported that there has been a noticeable increase in robbery and a decrease in murder from January 1 to March 31.
According to the statistics released by the police there were 40 murders compared to 42 during the same period last year – a 5% decrease while the robbery figure stands at 14 compared to 11, a 27% increase.
The statistics show that robbery under arms (firearms used) decreased by 10%. There were 133 reported cases as at March 31 in comparison with 147 for the same period last year. There is also a recorded 22% decrease in robbery with violence, a 48% decrease in larceny from the person, 15% decrease in break and enter and larceny and a 13% decrease in burglary.
According to the police, there is an overall decrease in serious crimes. Up to March 31, there have been a total of 825 reports of serious crimes compared to 963 last year; a 14% decrease.
The police said that a number of initiatives that the force has employed in contemporary times have resulted in a decrease of serious crimes. “Our implementation of social problem solving strategies, such as the social crime prevention programmes, and the strong partnership we have forged with civil society, are yielding dividend in public trust and the development of stronger social fabric in the communities within Guyana,” the police said.
It was noted that there has been increase public trust and capacity building.
“One way in which public trust has manifested itself can be illustrated in the investigations of high profile crimes; in that not only is the police force getting more information, but more importantly, we are getting accurate information, and the force has also managed to get overwhelming support from witnesses to process cases in a shorter space of time,” the release noted.
This support from the public, coupled with capacity building within the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), such as training in the Major Case Management Investigation Model, Crime Scene Processing and Forensic Video Analysis from the Justice Educational System (JES). Training in the areas of advanced crime fighting with the use of Information Technology and Advanced Fingerprint Science were also offered to investigators by the Government of India, the release said.
Additionally, ranks from the CID were exposed to Advanced Fingerprint Training and Crime Scene Investigation which were organised by the United States Embassy. The French Government also provided intelligence gathering training in the form of surveillance techniques to intelligence operatives. The investigators also benefited from Advanced Narcotics Investigation training and International Collaboration to Combat Financial Crimes which were offered by the Russian government, just to name a few.
Further, the CID has received additional human resource deployment which have all contributed to a higher quality of criminal investigations.
The release said that the deployment of Mounted Patrols in Region 9 has positively impacted on the smuggling and cattle rustling activities at the border to the extent that cattle rustlers, in changing their modus operandi, are putting themselves at increased risk of being arrested and prosecuted.
A total of seven persons were arrested and charged between the period January and March 2016.
In “F” Division (interior locations) there has been a 44 % decreased in serious crimes for the first quarter the result the improved inter agency relationships.
For the first quarter of the year murder has decreased by 25%; robbery under arms where firearms were used by the perpetrators has decreased by 100%; rape has decreased by 21% and break and enter and larceny by 71%, the release said.
