Police Commissioner Leslie James is under fire for saying he is not bothered about the crime situation in the country.
The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) on Thursday said it was taken aback by the utterances of the Top Cop.
“The sentiments of the Commissioner, if accurately reported, for us are simply incredulous and most insensitive to the victims of criminality,” FITUG stated.
The trade union body went on to state that any criminal attack presents a degree of trauma, and the apparent dismissal of this psychological effect by the chief law enforcement official was not in the best interest of victims.
“A criminal attack, whether as the victim and even as a witness, is an extremely traumatising and disturbing event in anyone’s life. It has the real possibility of having deep psychological impacts and could well push persons into a state of perpetual fear.
“It is not a situation anyone wants for themselves and is not something that Guyanese go about seeking. Therefore, to have the chief law enforcement officer, seemingly, being dismissive of the trauma that those persons have faced and are facing is for the Federation, and we are sure victims, a most unexpected statement,” FITUG declared.
When questioned about the glaring spike in criminal activities, the Top Cop referred to statistics of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) which revealed that there was a decrease in the rate of serious crimes when compared to the corresponding period last year.
James was quoted as saying, “Persons are still bent in dealing with crime … We cannot prevent persons from deciding to commit crime, but we are doing our utmost … I am not necessarily bothered, because I am saying there’re a few sensational crimes that are occurring. We have noted that there might have been a spike, but I can say at the moment we have a minus 3.4 per cent in serious crimes generally.”
