No government has gotten on top of crime

Nov 16, 2020 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News- No government, be the PPP or the PNC, has ever been able to control the crime situation in Guyana.
They have all failed to address the physical security of citizens.
In the case of the PNC, this failure was in spite of its heavy militarization of the society, which many felt, actually contributed to the problem rather than addressed it. It was during the rule of the PNC that choke and kick-down-the-door banditry, smuggling, backtracking and bribery for basic public services took its root.
The kick-down-the-door banditry was a terrifying experience during the eighties. This caused many persons to bar up their homes with steel and wooden grills so as to prevent unauthorised entry. There was great fear in many communities because they not only robbed but also at times raped and killed their victims.
This went on for a long time and drove real fear into the hearts of the population, many of whom left in droves. Citizens imprisoned themselves at home in the evening and the slightest sound, had persons jumping up from their beds and switching on lights to see whether the home was under attack.
It was an awful period, which saw hundreds of millions in wealth being expropriated from hard-working innocent families.
Walking the streets was no easier. Choke and rob was rampant forcing Guyanese to move around mostly in the daytime and to devise ingenious ways of securing their cash on their person.
Women often placed their purses in their bosom, while men opted to hide theirs in their ‘fob’—a small pocket by the waistline of the trousers. Some went as far as hiding their cash in their underwear. If they were to be robbed, the bandits would have to virtually strip them naked.
Some actually did.
The bank became a safety deposit box because no one wanted to keep large amounts of cash at home, but getting to the bank with your money without being robbed had its anxieties.
Sometimes when you left your home, thieves would break into your home and take away valuables.
This was in contrast to what existed in colonial Guyana and supported the argument that independence unleashed a crime wave on the society, which has remained unchecked.
When Guyana was a colony, there were thieves and bandits but not as much as what happened after independence.
You could leave your bicycle parked in your yard and wake up the next morning and still find it. You may not, however, have wanted to try leaving your cycle unlocked outside of a shop or store or factory, but in your yard, it was generally safe.
In those days, the policemen were older and more dedicated. You would never find a policeman with an attitude when you went to a station to make a report that someone had raided your farm.
They would be very concerned and eager to go out and look for those stealing your crops.
There was no security despite the large number of security personnel, which indicates that tinkering with the security system is not going to help.
Now with crime taking more violent forms and now related to a whole range of illicit activities such as drug trafficking, what is needed is not for the people to be fooled into believing that the existing structures can deliver security, but only if there is a change in administration.
Guyana needs to think outside of the box and there is solid enough basis upon which to advance new initiatives.
Community policing groups are no longer your neighbourhood watch teams. There are many effective community policing groups and they should be strengthened to complement the work of the police.
Security now has to be more intelligence driven, and community policing groups are pivotally placed to provide such intelligence and support but not to confront heavily armed criminals. Special units are required to deal with this problem.
The real nuisance to law-abiding citizens does not emanate from tens of thousands of Guyanese.
Only about three thousand Guyanese represent a threat to security and it therefore is within the means of the disciplined services to ensure that this small grouping is either deterred, or when they do engage in criminal acts, are caught and brought to justice. It is not as if there are more criminals than the security forces can handle.
In ridding the country of crime, the security forces need the support of every Guyanese and community policing is an effective way of doing this.
The government should seriously consider full-time community policing groups. If one thousand of these persons can be recruited at $70,000 per month, it will cost the treasury less than a billion dollars, which is not a major investment considering the returns which can be had. It is something that should be worth trying.
does not need foreigners to come and tell us how to fight crime.
We may need technical help such as in forensics, but we do not need any advice.
Those offering such advice and help are often more interested in their own national security concerns rather than in helping the people of Guyana.
So forget about foreign assistance.
Decentralize policing by employing fulltime community policing.
It will make a difference and the benefits will seep over into other crime fighting areas and Guyana will be much safer, not totally safe but still safer.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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