Police Stations must be “welcoming place” for public – Benn to GPF

…says Force “behind the curve” in responding to issues

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) is “behind the curve” in addressing rising developmental issues, but efforts are being made to better address crime-related matters and improve Police facilities countrywide.
Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn made these remarks on Thursday during the opening of a two-day Police Symposium at the Police Officers’ Mess Annexe, Eve Leary.

“We are behind the inflection point in terms of where we should be in responding to the issues of development – the oil and gas development, development in the natural resources sector otherwise, and the results of these developments,” Benn said.

He noted that the GPF is the “tip of the spear” in respect to ensuring peace and security in the country, though modern policing and addressing rising issues now require a broad-based, more academic, statistically-driven and humanistic approach.
“Given our developmental history and current context, the challenges which abound now with respect to transnational organised crime – it is an invidious task, and we have to recognise the challenges, the role, the critique, and vision necessary to ensure that peace we all desire,” Benn said.
Transnational organised crime – trafficking of persons and drugs, gold smuggling and money laundering – is a significant challenge the Force continues to encounter, though it is compounded by other issues of traffic-related crimes, an insurgence of maliciously set fires, and a more disdainful public, according to Benn.
In bettering the approach towards addressing the concerns of citizens, Benn stated, new Police stations and command centres are being built across the regions with the requisite facilities.
“We want those new stations and also the old ones to be properly outfitted. We want the public to feel that the Police station is a welcoming place for people; that it’s a place for help; that women who are abused or suffering from any [form] of violence should be treated in a respectful manner; and that they should be helped,” Benn said.
To provide this space of help and sanctity for those in distress, Benn added, is a task the Police Force will have to work on regularly.
Themed “Improving Police Performance through Stakeholders’ Approach”, the Police symposium hosted by the GPF aims to mitigate these issues and consider areas to strengthen Police practices and partnerships, while fostering public confidence.
Priority issues to be discussed include domestic violence, the Juvenile Justice Act, human rights in Policing, noise nuisance, the impact of school dropouts on crime, mental health as a public safety issue, trafficking in persons, cybercrime, and traffic management.
Acting Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken, in his remarks, noted that in an ever-evolving society, the Police Force continues to face complex challenges that demand a proactive and collaborative approach.
“A strong collaboration between the GPF and the public is critical in ensuring we can actualise our goals and reform our policing services to make contemporary demands,” Hicken has said.