United States Ambassador to Guyana Perry Holloway yesterday handed over US$20,000 in electronic equipment to the Guyana Police Force’s Strategic Planning Unit in an effort to enhance its capacity to address modern crimes.
The equipment was handed over during a ceremony held in the conference room at the Office of the Commissioner of Police at Eve Leary.
During his remarks, Holloway noted that the donation was a collaborative effort made through the Security Sector Reform Project, which identified the need to strengthen the Strategic Planning Unit, which did not have “all the equipment needed to deal with “modern crimes in a modern world.”
According to Holloway, the equipment will allow the unit to “do more of what it is expected to do” and he added that in today’s world, one cannot do strategic planning without modern equipment.
Since the establishment of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative in 2010, Holloway said, the US has heavily supported efforts to combat drug trading and other transnational crimes through capacity building, local donations and technical assistance. “The specific programme that the US Embassy (Georgetown) administers seeks to administer our law enforcement capabilities, combating transnational crime and promoting the rule of law,” he said.
He added that the US is committed to assisting the Government of Guyana’s law enforcement institutions in order to promote the development of a professional criminal justice system. “We hope citizen’s security is paramount and applaud the Government and Strategic Planning Unit efforts to reform Guyana’s security sector,” he noted. Holloway said the commitment will continue wherever possible since in the past it was noticed that the contributions to Guyana have been well used.
Past donations have also resulted in officer efficiency, he said, while noting that it will result in better case management and improved investigations.
In addition, he said despite a report of an 11% decrease in serious crime, more efforts are required. “…And I applaud the police for that… but of course more effort is always required because one crime is one crime to many, so you need to do more in continuing to disrupt and defeat transnational threats and sustain public security,” he observed.
“The US government donation today will enhance the operational capacity of the Strategic Planning unit…It is our hope that this contribution will aid the unit in its mandate and by extension assist the Guyana Police Force during its crime fighting efforts,” Holloway added.
Meanwhile Commis-sioner of Police (ag) David Ramnarine commended the US for its continued support. According to Ramnarine, the Security Sector Reform report speaks much about the improvement of various aspects of the security sector and, in particular, the Guyana Police Force. “….Which the citizens of this country would like to see, continuing growth and development, as we strive to deliver an improved quality of service to them,” he said.
He also said training was done for members of the Strategic Planning Unit some time ago and that this will lead to the much needed reforms in the Guyana Police Force.
