It’s about crime-solving

Apr 12, 2014 Editorial

There are many things that would make people hold the wrong impression of a country and one of them is the police reaction to crime. There is crime in every country and the crime could be of varying degrees.
There are the burglaries, the snatch and grab episodes, the murders and the kidnappings. Sometimes the crimes are senseless and leave one to wonder whether the perpetrator is merely an attention grabber. But then again, rarely do people commit crimes with the expectation that they would be caught. It is the rate at which the criminals are caught that makes countries seem better places to be than others.
The United States has had more than its fair share of high profile shootings in the recent past. People have been known to take guns to schools and using them with deadly effect. Just over a year ago, in December 2012, a 20-year-old man shot and killed 26 people, including his mother. Twenty of those killed were kindergarten children.
Since then there have been nearly three dozen shootings in schools alone. For this year there have been fourteen and in each case the police have arrested the perpetrators. There have been other crimes and many of these have been solved so people leave with the impression that the United States is a safe place.
In neighbouring Trinidad where for this year there have been more murders than there have been days in this year one does not hear of people shying away from that country. Judging from the media reports, it is more violent than most countries in the world. In fact, it was recently dubbed the murder capital of the world.
The killings there appear to be directed against specific people as opposed to Guyana where people are killed randomly. There were the elderly women who were killed in their homes by intruders who remain unknown.
Just this week, an East Coast Demerara businessman was reportedly kidnapped right before his wife. A ransom was reportedly demanded but about three days later, the body of the businessman was found dumped in Le Repentir cemetery. As was the case of the elderly women, no one has been arrested and from indications, the police seem no closer to making an arrest. There was the bombing at the Boston Marathon and within a few days despite the crowds and the absence of eyewitnesses the police were able to kill one of the perpetrators and arrest the other. Bostonians feel safe.
The result is that people in the Diaspora suddenly decide that Guyana is off limits. Many of them have cancelled planned visits because of the crime in Guyana. Indeed, former President Bharrat Jagdeo was aware of the reportage on crime in Guyana and he actually begged reporters to downplay their exuberant reports.
Using the examples of what prevailed in other countries he said that the Guyanese reporter would not recognize that he is chasing away people when he reports and features crimes prominently in his newspaper.
The truth is that there are not enough arrests and whenever there is a break in a case the information is not reported in the press. There have been attempts to analyse the reasons for Guyana’s crime situation. However, the local analysts do not have the resources as their counterparts in the developed world.
Besides, they are rarely asked to psychoanalyse the perpetrator of crimes so there is no measure of what sparks criminal activities in a small country like Guyana. Why was the businessman kidnapped? And why was he killed when all indications were that the family would provide the ransom?
There is one school of thought which suggests that the violent crimes away from domestic murders, may be linked to the some of the illegal activities that seem to be common in Guyana. If that is the case then the police should have no difficulty in solving many of these crimes but that is not happening.
So Guyana continues to be perceived as a most unsafe place although its crime rate is nowhere as high as some of those that are believed to be safer than Guyana merely because the police there solve crimes.

Latest News

It’s about crime-solving

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Thomas’ hat-trick inspires D.C Caesar Fox 10-5 victory, as Annai...

Stabroek Ballers, Sparta Boss, Bent Street...

West Indies Falter in Disheartening Series Loss...

Trophy Stall hands over trophies for Kennard...

Omari Glasgow, carrying the hopes and dreams of a...

GCF eyeing growth across other regions in 2025...

Features/Columnists

The stakes are high in Guyana’s democracy

Let the asylum seekers go: a first step for Venezuela to rebuild relations in the Americas

A leader undresses in public

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

It’s about crime-solving

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

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 […]