Commander for Region Four Division ‘A’ (Georgetown) Assistant Commissioner Simon McBean on Tuesday evening admitted that there are not enough police officers manning the streets of the capital city, however, he indicated that the onus is on citizens to protect themselves.
He was at the time being interviewed by Public Relations Officer of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Stan Gouveia on the weekly “Police and You” radio programme.
The Georgetown Commander was specifically asked if he would agree that there is not enough police presence on the roadways of Georgetown, to which he responded in the affirmative.
“For Georgetown being our main city, yes, I will agree with you that there are not enough police on the road,” he confessed, but assured that there is a plan in progress to change the situation.
“That is a plan in progress… from January to now we have increased our presence on the road and there are plans afoot to further increase our presence in Georgetown because we realise that for us to tackle the fear of crime, we have to have more presence,’ McBean explained.
According to the Commander, there is a plan to divide Georgetown into several sectors to be able to better manage the security aspects of the city.
“We plan to sectorise it in 17 sectors and based on our analysis, those sectors will be monitored… it is a work in progress. It will be managed by motorcycle, vehicle, and foot patrol as required. If we can be able to achieve that goal, we will be able to deal with crime in Georgetown,” he explained.
In the same breath, however, he said it is the responsibility of every citizen to adapt several measures to protect themselves and their properties.
“You have to make that opportunity as difficult as possible for the criminals… that is what persons need to ensure, that this does not happen,” the Commander expressed.
He said based on information gathered from within the division, mostly cellphones are being stolen during robberies. The Commander said this is made possible by persons who use or display their phones in public.
“A phone might not seem as something serious, but an average cellphone is $50,000 to about $200,000… it is an easy opportunity because most persons would have their cellphone out in their hands, that is a target. As we move around, we need to be sensitive to our surrounding,” the Commander noted.
He also encouraged persons to be extra vigilant when conducting bank transactions and wearing jewellery, since these actions can increase their chances of being robbed.
