Police working to dismantle ‘heavy market’ for stolen cell phones – 4A Commander

…says street crimes account for 57% of serious crimes committed

Cell phones top the list of articles stolen during robberies, and the Guyana Police Force is working to dismantle the market in which they are resold.
This is according to Commander of Division 4A (Georgetown), Assistant Commissioner Simon McBean, during an interview on Thursday. He noted that there seems to be a large market created so that the stolen devices can be sold off for reasonable prices.
“One of the areas that we found with most of our street crime is that cellphone has been the major article that (was) stolen. We are of the belief that there is a heavy market for cellphones, and that’s something that we’re looking at. If we can disrupt that market, we will be able to disrupt that cycle and crack that area,” McBean pointed out.

The Commander shared that his division is on top of the crime situation, and there has been an overall reduction in serious crimes by 33 per cent. Street crimes account for 57 per cent of serious crimes committed, with hotspots being the Stabroek Market area and the Sophia community.
“Street crimes continue to be our main bother, and also our main focus. I am talking about our robbery-under-arms. Our analysis shows that the days when street crimes frequent (occur) are Fridays, then Thursdays and Wednesdays,” he disclosed.
Between 15:00h and midnight, street crimes are most likely to occur, based on trends recorded within the division, he disclosed.
Further, he added that, for this year so far, 28 firearms have been taken off the streets, as compared to 15 for 2022; and 3,199 grams of cannabis have been seized, as opposed to 1,813 grams for the same period. Some 202 grams of cocaine have also been seized.
In acknowledging the importance of collaboration with agencies and Ministries to adequately conduct proper policing in the communities,
the Commander noted, “We cannot do this by ourselves. For policing to be successful, we must foster partnerships with all agencies that can lend a helping hand. We have been doing that in the sense of our domestic violence and any sexual-related offences. We depend a lot on our partners, like the Ministry of Human Services, to assist us in providing the services the civilian needs.”

Cybercrime
McBean noted that cybercrime has taken prominence lately. Increased reports have been recorded, and the Cybercrime Unit has been activated to handle such.
“Our ranks are trained, and we are doing more training in that area to ensure we are up to speed with the requirements of that area,” he disclosed.
Laid in the National Assembly since 2016, the Cybercrimes Bill had catered for, inter alia: illegal access to a computer system; illegal interception; illegal data interference; illegal acquisition of data; illegal system interference; unauthorised receiving or granting of access to computer data; computer-related forgery; computer-related fraud; offences affecting critical infrastructure; identity-related offences; child pornography; child luring, and violation of privacy, among a slew of other offences.

Traffic
In relation to traffic, an analysis shows accidents within the division have decreased by 12 per cent, but there is an increase in fatal accidents, at 20. The latter has attracted greater attention from the GPF.
“That’s one of our focal points. Most of our traffic accidents were seen along Mandela Avenue and Rupert Craig Highway. We have focused our patrols and enforcement along those areas to try to curb the occurrence of traffic accidents in those specific areas,” the Commander has said. (G-12)