Ramjattan praises Police, security guards for bravery

Shootout during foiled bank robbery

Officers of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Professional Guard Service (PGS) were commended by Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan for their bravery.
According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), the Minister was at the time referring to the attempted robbery at Republic Bank Limited, which was brought to a halt on Tuesday owing to the efforts of the ranks from the two organisations.
“The efforts of the PGS have to be commended and I want to congratulate their very quick thinking and the fact that they managed to foil the attempt of these robbers. Of course, they were there first; the Police came and in combination with the PGS – I am so proud of the fact that indeed our private security services in combination with the Police – have managed to foil this attack,” Minister Ramjattan stated.
However, the Minister expressed disappointment at the wayward path youths were taking despite being given the opportunity to excel in life. He said, “It is a pretty negative aspect to know that people who have graduated, who got scholarship, duty-free concession and all of that, they are now going to be the masterminds of crime…what is disappointing about this whole thing is that some bright kids trained in China have done their parents such a bad thing to want to go rob a bank and they had almost all the world at their feet really, but it is greed I suppose, immaturity, so many negative things but we have to do lots more.”
Ramjattan said that the Government was cognisant of the fact that much more needed to be done to turn the tide against youths who turn to crime. The Minister revealed that the Government would be hosting a “crime and youth violence forum” at the Pegasus Hotel on July 12, 2017 to address the issue.
Just around 07:30h on Tuesday, three young men attempted to rob the Republic Bank branch on Water Street in Georgetown. However, the situation was quickly handled by members of the GPF and officers of the PGS. One of the bandits was shot dead, while two others were in custody as the investigation continued.