A meeting was held on Monday between the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to forge collaboration in an attempt to better secure the capital city, Georgetown. The meeting was held at the chambers of the M&CC with Assistant Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken, Commander of A Division (Georgetown-East Bank Demerara) Marlon Chapman, Mayor of Georgetown Patricia Chase Green, Town Clerk Royston King, Chief Constable Andrew Foo and members of the Council.
Commander of A Division Marlon Chapman, Assistant Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken, Georgetown Mayor Patricia Chase Green and Chief Constable Andrew Foo
The Town Clerk said the M&CC is seeking collaboration with the GPF in light of the recent prison breaks. King said while the M&CC was aware of the incident, they were not formally notified of the chain of events.
According to him, while there are discussions between the City Constabulary and the Police Force, information sharing needs to be more formal. This, he believes, is important because Councillors were elected and have a responsibility to secure the communities which elected them.
“What we are asking for is something that is more institutionalised, something that is more formal, something where we can meet on a regular basis and have discussions so we too can be involved in detecting and preventing crime in the city, because we have a responsibility,” he explained.
Assistant Police Commissioner Hicken said the initiative is one which he welcomes since it will help lower the crime situation in the city. Hicken also noted that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will have to be crafted for the collaboration to be effective.
However, he pointed out that while the MoU is being crafted, there are some immediate actions that will be undertaken. “By the time we are developing the MoU, we can do some standard operating procedures (SOPs) which can start almost immediately,” the Assistant Police Commissioner stated.
He further added that “the MoU gives both sides of the organisation their roles, responsibilities, the if, what and how. In terms of the Standing Operating Procedures, that can work now and we have this collaboration conducted through the Commander of A Division”. The way in which information is shared is expected to be ironed out in the MoU.
Assistant Commissioner Hicken also noted that the collaboration will help to maximise the use of limited resources as it relates to the deploying of officers in and around the city. According to the Assistant Commissioner, “No organisation should be working in isolation because it takes all the resources in one organisation. If we work in a collaborative effort it gives us more resources generally, not just the human but vehicle and every other aspect of it”.
The immediate action taken by Assistant Commissioner Hicken was hailed by Mayor Chase Green, Commander of A Division Marlon Chapman, Chief Constable Andrew Foo and other members of the Council.
