Crime prevention approach to see improvements – Top Cop

The Guyana Police Force continues to face much public condemnation over recent shortcomings, but the Acting Commissioner of Police, David Ramnarine, has gone on record as saying that the Force’s crime prevention approach would soon be improved.

Ramnarine gave this assurance at a Police event as he underscored the importance of preventing crime, rather than relying on prosecution, which is after the fact.
“The test of Police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of Police action in dealing with it. We all know that prevention is better than cure. It is less costly to prevent, it is costly to prosecute; a lot of issues (is) under prosecution.”
Ramnarine pointed out that within the past months, the Force has seen an improvement in the investigation and prosecution of criminal activities.
“We are doing well in our prosecution but we need to do more in our prevention, which is less costly,” relayed Ramnarine.
The acting Police Commissioner did indicate that while some efforts to stamp out crime have been unsuccessful, the Force’s strategies are soon expected to bear fruit. He posited, “That is coming. We have a lot of resources which will soon roll out. We have increase in manpower, increase in various capacities. Our prevention will improve.”
Ramnarine also outlined that the much-needed enhancements to the country’s crime prevention approach would materialize as Guyana moves ahead with implementation of the Security Sector Reform Programme (SSRP).
He said, “We are likely to benefit from the very United Kingdom Security Sector Reform package which has as its main focus the Guyana Police Force and our role in public security, where the training curriculum is likely to be reviewed to see how gaps exist, if any, with the reality of the times in terms of the subjects, and whether there is the need to introduce new concepts in the training curriculum.”
A total of $29.1billion was allocated in the Budget this year as part of enhancing crime prevention and reduction strategies.