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Former detective presents ID card machine to Police Force
Former local detective, now World Bank Security Specialist Michael De Souza (right) goes through the programme on the ID card machine with Assistant Superintendent Bacchus as other police officers look on.
Police ranks will be brandishing brand new Identification Cards with state-of-the-art security features in the not too distant future, thanks to a former Sergeant who is now a security expert in the United States of America.
Michael De Souza, a former Detective Sergeant who is currently employed as a security expert with the World Bank in Washington DC, yesterday handed over a sophisticated machine, which produces the identification cards, to Police Commissioner Henry Greene in the presence of other high ranking officers of the Guyana Police Force at a simple ceremony held in the Commissioner’s Conference Room.
The machine is capable of producing tamper-proof ID cards, similar to the national identification card, within two minutes.
In brief remarks, De Souza said that he was approached in April of this year by both Commissioner Greene and Assistant Commissioner George Vyphuis for solutions as it relates to the upgrade of the force’s ID cards.
“I remember we had discussions about the replacement of cards and we talked about it back and forth but the bottom line is that we thought that the replacement of cards would not suffice, we wanted to look at a more holistic solution.
Coming out of that was the fact we are going to get a new system,” De Souza, who has responsibility for the World Bank’s technical security systems, told those gathered.
The former local Detective said that he approached a Washington-based security firm, but as with everything else, money was the main topic.
The ID card of Commissioner Henry Greene was among the first to be produced.
De Souza explained that the firm bought into the idea and he was soon able to garner financial support from the business community.
“I would like to name some of these people who contributed financially. Mr. Aubrey Stephenson, Mr. Patrick Shields and Mr. Everton Johnson,” De Souza said. He added that to secure the equipment a lot of his time was taken up, but working in collaboration with Assistant Commissioner Vyphuis, the project has now come to fruition.
The police IT specialists, Superintendent Thomas and Assistant Superintendent Bacchus, also played integral roles in modifying the programme to suit the Guyana Police Force.
Police Commissioner Henry Greene welcomed the assistance from the former cop and implored others to emulate the gesture since the force cannot operate without the input of civil society.
He pointed out that there were times when the force was about to give up on the project, but faith would be renewed through further contact with De Souza.
“I want to compliment you on your devotion to the Guyana Police Force. It shows that you still have us in mind and you want to give back something.
This is a signal contribution that you have managed to come onboard with. What we can assure is that when we produce these cards and give them to policemen, they are foolproof,” the Commissioner said emphatically.
The entire project cost around US$10,000.
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