Police vehicles involved in accidents reduced amid stringent measures – Top Cop

There has been a reduction in the number of Police vehicles involved in accidents along the roadways, according to Police Commissioner (ag), Clifton Hicken on Thursday while adding that efforts have been made to maintain and expand the fleet of Police vehicles.
In this regard, the scourge of service vehicles damaged in accidents is being addressed.
“To expand the transportation fleet, we’re strict in that regard. The more vehicles we maintain, the more operationalised we can have in the Police Force. We’re paying special attention to that. Of course, over the years we have seen a lot of accidents by policemen and women driving Police vehicles. We have seen a drastic reduction because of the measures we would have put in place,” said the Top Cop.
Recently, 47 4×4 vehicles were produced and 30 more are expected to arrive in the coming month.
“This by itself will help members of the public whenever they come to the station. We’re striving to achieve all stations equipped with a vehicle to know that they can manage the stations in the districts without being supported by other regions.”
The Guyana Police Force’s (GPF) Strategic Plan 2022-2026 is geared at transforming the law enforcement organisation into a contemporary one through the development of its human resources and other capabilities at levels.
According to Hicken, the Force is also building its capacity and response in keeping with the needs for the 2025 General and Regional Elections.
“The repositioned Guyana Police Force to meet the changing face of crime through the use of SWOT analysis to build capacity and security posture for the 2025 General and Regional Elections. Reforming the Guyana Police Force has commenced as it continues as an organisation for service delivery undergoes a paradigm shift that aims to increase the performance and efficiency of the organisation through a multi-disciplinary approach and targets not only the administrative practices,” it was detailed.
Continuous revamping across the country, Hicken said, will make the Guyana Police Force stand out in the Region for its best practices and modern facilities.
“We are in the process of decentralising critical Police Departments to make all the regions self-sufficient. The continuous reconstruction and rehabilitation that is taking place in the Police station will see them not only equipped with all the modern amenities to meet international best practices with safes, ID parade rooms, ramp for the disabled and child-friendly whenever we have issues of domestic violence.”
Implementation of the Strategic Plan saw the derivation of several Standard Operating Procedures and Terms of Reference. Of recent, a decision was also made to standardise work plans across the Force.
In 2023, the GPF was allocated $19.7 billion in the budget for the intended purpose of boosting the Force’s capacity on all fronts. In this light, the Safe City programme has been expanded, producing real-time updates and reducing response time. They have strengthened forensic and crime-fighting postures.