Dear Editor,
Reports of drug busts have intensified in the news lately. With a Brickdam Police Station displaced and rising gun crime throughout the capital and beyond, what are citizens to make of these events?
Seeing that the scaled Police station Brickdam was, up until its devastation by fire, primarily paper-based, I am also left to wonder why. Why, in the year 2021, is policing not supported by a more convenient way of dealing with the boring stuff – the paperwork?
Further, recent reported events leave me to wonder about the state of crime analysis. I am not a crime fighter myself, but I am aware of the applications of data science in crime fighting. Any kind of analytical work in law enforcement would depend primarily upon data. Paper source trails won’t cut it, neither would mere “computerisation”. I am aware that there are other possibilities for data science in crime fighting too – crime prevention being one of those possibilities.
My hope is that there are minds in the Force who see the value of data, and are also integrated enough to apply the thinking of modern systems to the duties of law enforcement, with or without computers – though computer systems would unlock many possibilities.
Could properly collected and managed policing data play a role in understanding the possible consequences of our developmental actions? Would growth in low-income housing result in the intensified use of banned substances? We are trying our best to respond to a strong demand for housing; but, in so doing, would we inadvertently intensify the use of drugs? At what rate might this be expected? Would the disruption of $2M in drugs create $2M in gun crime?
Could there be an observed increase in the rate of crime for a given increase in the rate of inflation? Could our lack of monetary independence be the stage floor upon which our crime rates rise?
Police Forces that provide the kinds of services that enable us to answer broader questions tend to also become friendlier in their approach, and are more readily welcomed throughout the communities they serve. With a wider range of services and a certain closeness with their communities, Police become keepers of safety and peace.
I look forward to this kind of future for the Guyana Police Force. For now, my thoughts and prayers go out to our brave officers as they contend with bolder, more organised criminals; youth unemployment; possible rising inequality; possible increased foreigner populations; spillovers from Maduro’s Venezuela and elsewhere, and all the other complex pressures that come with being a part of the Western world.
Sincerely,
Emille Giddings
