Gun-robberies fuel spike in serious crimes

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:00 by GxMedia

There has been a four percent increase serious crimes largely to a spike in gun-related robberies in Georgetown, Deputy Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud said Wednesday.

He made the disclosure at the Guyana Police Force’s annual awards ceremony held at the Tactical Services Unit Square, Eve Leary, Georgetown.

“The area that impacted this increase is gun-related robberies where we see a 15 percent increase. The large majority of those robberies are committed in A Division, mainly in Georgetown, and the large majority are street robberies,” he said.

Fromm January 1 to December 17, 2013, a total of 136 murders was recorded compared to 131 for the same period last year.

The police also seized 192 firearms, 555,077 kilograms of marijuana, 20 kilogrammes of cocaine and 1.7 kilogrammes of LSD. In terms of drug offences, 775 persons were charged.

In terms of traffic, statistics show that there were 98 fatal accidents resulting in 106 deaths compared to 97 fatal accidents and 105 deaths last year.

The Deputy Police Commissioner also restated that the Police Force was forging ahead with reforms but he cautioned that the impact would not be seen immediately. “The reforms are taking place incrementally and there is need for a certain amount of implementation to take place before it really impacts in a significant way on the results of our operations,” he said.

Progress so far includes the establishment of an Integrated Crime Information System that so far links police stations on the coast, Region 10 and Bartica to monitor responses to crime, aids in deployment and performance assessments.

When the awards began in 1990, a total of GUY$824,000 was spent. Today, with the assistance of the community, the police force paid out awards amounting to GUY$13.9 million to 1, 663 ranks, 23 Community Policing Groups and 34 individuals from Community Policing Groups.

“While every rank is deserving of an award, this initiative tends to enhance competition and therefore only those who have gone far beyond the normal course of work, who have done exemplary and deserving of these awards are actually awarded,” said Persaud.