By Leroy Smith
[www.inewsguyana.com] – The Guyana Police Force is being assured by the David Granger led government that it will be equipped with the necessary resources to execute its mandate.
This reassurance was given by Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan who recently handed over eleven vehicles to the Force, which were initially purchased for the Community Policing Groups under the former government.
“We are working on a number of equipment and lucky if I could say, I had the good fortune of meeting the Chines Ambassador who said they are going to help fast track a number of equipment. A list was given since February 2014 but which they will like to see us peruse for our priority as a new administration and a number of new items which are going to take care of our list and hopefully we get it shortly,” Minister Ramjattan said.
The Force is also expected to receive a boost in its radio sets and vests. Meanwhile, Commissioner of Police, Seelall Persaud reiterated that the new government has committed to better equipping the ranks.
“We will have to deliver; meaning that we have to take the crime statistics down and we have to take control of crime and we have to take the road deaths down and we have to develop public trust and we have to engage our communities in a way that persons engage us not with fear but accommodation,” the Police Commissioner said.
Persaud also spoke about the lack of a patrol vehicle in the ‘D’ Division while there are only two in the ‘B’ Division; as such he expressed appreciation for the new fleet of vehicles.
Two (2) patrol vehicles in B Division! How pathetic. How can you police from the Upper Corentyne to Abary Creek, and from the Atlantic to Kwakwani with only 2 patrol vehicles? Didn’t the previous government know this? Or they were so busy “taking care of themselves” that they did not find the time to attend to the public’s safety? Many of the officials in the previous government were riding around in expensive government-owned SUV’s. The government should investigate the true ownership of these vehicles, the n seize them if not privately owned and gove them to the [police so that they could better protect the public. A constant police presence and immediate action is a deterrent to crime and criminals. So let’s give the police the equipment they need to make our streets and houses safe for Guyanese and visitors.
A step in the right direction. The police cannot effectively do the job without adequate equipment.