The Guyana Police Force (GPF) has recorded an increase in the number of rape and robberies cases thus far this year when compared to the corresponding period last year.
During his first press conference since assuming office back in August, Police Commissioner Leslie James on Thursday provided an update on statistics so far in 2018, ending October 22, 2018, in comparison to the same period in 2017.
The Top Cop noted that while the GPF recorded a declining trend in most categories of serious crimes during this time, there were a few which increased.
This included robberies which saw an increase of eight per cent with 40 cases reported this year, compared to 37 during the corresponding period in 2017. There was also a growth in robberies with violence, which saw 122 cases during this period compared to 120 last year – reflecting a two per cent increase.
Additionally, the number of rape cases also increased by seven per cent with 202 cases reported this year compared to 189 cases last year.
Meanwhile, the other categories of serious crimes that recorded reductions were murder, which went down by 17 per cent, with 80 cases this year compared to 96 last year; gun robberies reduced by seven per cent, with 486 cases against 525; armed robberies using other instruments reduced by 24 per cent with 185 cases against 243; robbery with aggravation went down by 36 per cent with 42 cases against 66; larceny from the person reduced by 12 per cent with 97 cases against 110; burglary reduced by nine per cent with 156 cases against 172; and break and enter and larceny went down by 12 per cent with 756 cases last year against 859 reported last year.
Commissioner James made it a point to emphasise the statistics are reflective of only cases that were reported to the Police Force.
With regards to the seizure of firearms, it was revealed that a total of 112 illegal weapons were taken off the streets as of October 22, 2018. These weapons included pistols, revolvers, shotguns and sub-machine guns. The highest number of gun finds was in A Division (Georgetown-East Bank Demerara).
Crime Chief Lyndon Alves told reporters at Thursday’s press conference that they were unavailable to trace any of these illegal weapons to crime previously committed.
Furthermore, in efforts to combat narcotics trafficking, the Guyana Police Force has seized a total of 395,617.32 kilograms of cannabis and 2318 kilograms of cocaine.
According to the Top Cop, a total of 291 persons have been charged with some 247 cases filed for narcotics related offences, while another 40 charged and 39 cases filed for cocaine related cases.
Traffic statistics
Meanwhile, as it relates to the traffic statistics during this period, there was a 3.9 per cent increase in fatal accidents with 79 cases so far, resulting in a total of 92 deaths, which also went up by 3.3 per cent. This is compared to 76 fatal accidents resulting in 89 deaths recorded during the corresponding period in 2017.
Additionally, the number of children killed on the roadways doubled to four so far. Nevertheless, the Top Cop also reported decreases in serious, minor and damage accidents, with 29 per cent (200 cases against 282 last year), 46.5 per cent (223 against 417 cases) and 28.1 per cent (530 cases against 738) respectively.
These figures amounted to a total of 1032 accidents were recorded on the country’s roadways so far this year, compared to 1513 in the corresponding period in 2017 – reflecting a 31.7 per cent decrease in accidents.
