SECURING THE VILLAGES

Feb 25, 2012 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The police must be aware that there has been a significant increase in the trend of armed robberies occurring in Guyana. The bandits are now targeting suburban communities and villages, attacking mostly small businesses such as shops and goldsmith operations.
With most of the police operating within the heavy populated urban centres and with the coastal sprawl as it is, the police are always going to be hard-pressed to deal with crimes that are dispersed over a wide area.
The police may feel that for now they have the upper hand because recently they have been very successful at intercepting bandits who attacked businesses in villages along the coast.
The success of the police may be attributable to improved intelligence-gathering. Information on suspects may be more easily forthcoming from these areas which tend to be tightly knitted allowing unusual and suspicious movements to be noticed.
A few days ago, a butcher was robbed on the lower East Coast Demerara. Some persons went after the bandits and when they were reportedly about to corner them, one of the bandits opened fire hitting a bystander who was passing at the same time. But according to the police one of the bandits was caught and another’s firearm was retrieved.
The police have commended the ranks who made the successful arrest and they have also commended the men who went in pursuit of the bandits.
The police and the authorities must however understand that crime patterns are changing. The bandits are now targeting the outlying areas. The cops must be prepared to deal with this new development.
A few years ago when there was massive crime wave in Guyana with an epicenter in the village of Buxton, there were persons in outlying areas who used to boast that they do not have to bother about crime.
Now, things have changed so much that it is these outlying villages that have to worry about crime. The security of villages needs to be reinforced and since there cannot be a police station in every village, other more feasible and flexible options have to be examined to deal with the problem.
One of the things that could be done is to strengthen community policing groups to support the work of stretched police divisions. The police stations along the coast are too far apart and too seriously undermanned to be effective. And therefore the solution has to be greater security controls within the villages themselves.
This is where community policing can make a huge impact. However instead of community policing being a voluntary activity it should become part of the official decentralizing of security operations and community policing patrols should be armed and financed to operate on a twenty-four hour basis.
One of the measures that the government should seriously consider in this year’s budget is the payment of salaries to rural constables who should be made part of a police reserve that would be responsible for safeguarding their communities. The members of the community should also be asked to make a contribution to the community policing group.
Many people are willing to do so since they know that with these groups around on a permanent basis, there will be greater security.
Unfortunately though, community police, like the normal police patrols, cannot be everywhere at the same time. And this is a major problem in Guyana.
In too many communities, businesses are propping up. In almost every street in the country where there are residences there are some businesses and this becomes a magnet for criminals. You can no longer in Guyana speak about residential and non- residential areas.
This is where zoning needs to be reintroduced and enforced. It seems as if today once someone decides to open a business, that person just goes ahead and does so. In fact, the potential businessman seems to be obtaining the permission to run businesses and many residential areas are seeing shops prop up almost at will.
Goldsmiths and jewelers are setting up businesses in these villages and this is therefore placing an unwieldy demand on security.
This is why in any crime-prevention strategy, zoning has to be reintroduced. The number of shops and supermarkets in residential areas needs to be reduced.
In fact, no new permits should be given and the authorities should ensure that no licence to operate a business should be issued in residential areas.
Special commercial zones should be established and this would allow for more effective security. It will make an impact on crime and help to ensure that patrols can be deployed with greater efficacy.

Latest News

SECURING THE VILLAGES

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | January, 13th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Ramnath sets tone for WI ahead of opener

Seales dominates but Shakeel, Rizwan lead...

Youngsters impress as final day draws near

BCB/Dr. Amarnauth Dukhi U15 Inter Club...

Windies captain Brathwaite stresses bravery,...

In-form Savory dazzles on second day with classy...

Features/Columnists

Burnham must be having a good laugh

Clarifying misconceptions about the Panama Canal

Exim 4% rate

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

SECURING THE VILLAGES

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | January, 13th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]