This proposal for fighting bank robberies is flawed

Dear Editor,
I recently read in the print media of the Force’s crime fighting strategy of placing plainclothes Policemen around commercial banks to stem the tide of bank robberies and immediately I gave a deep sigh of disbelief.
My alarm flares went off because here we have a security force that has openly given the criminals notice of their intent way upfront which I would say is tantamount to arming the criminal with the vital tools of information. This is poor crime-fighting strategy when you can so easily give away information to the very same persons you hope to capture. Keeping the bandits informed is bad in form and content.
Now the Guyana Police Force is either delusional or openly stupid to ever think that this strategy would work, I here say it will not, because in the first place the wily criminal out there thrives on information; that is why they are so successful at their evil craft.
Therefore, to so openly share that information strategy – with so much details – the end result would be that the criminal is bound to come out on top of the game. By now the criminals would have already changed their modus operandi in not robbing their victims soon after they have left the bank, but trailing them to their homes and businesses where they are most vulnerable.
Or, they would have gone into hibernation at the information furnished in the print media. So, the question remains, what do they hope to achieve in all of this? And there is an immediate echo, very little if anything at all.
Now, if we should take that “plainclothes Police around banks” idea in stride, I believe there might very well be headed into a bungled situation of mistaking Cop for criminal. Both individuals might be mistaken as one and the same.
The reason for me saying this is the information should only be a well set operational stratagem hammered out between the higher echelons of the bank and the Police, no more no less. The general public should not be privy to this seeing the criminal is eagerly waiting in the wings to intercept the idea and change his move. In any case it all comes back to the age old tried and proven tactic of stop and search that I have repeatedly mentioned in previous letters.
I have mooted the idea of the “stop and search” which will bring handsome results if actively pursued, but this does not seem to be a preferred method of this clueless
Force. You must have regular patrols in all the hot spots, stop them, search them, go into their dens and hideaways and I guarantee you will see success in getting those guns off the streets.
Criminals do not operate in the air – they do not come in helicopters to commit their crimes – they traverse our streets, then meet them there! As an alert and responsible Force, you go in search of criminals, you cannot wait for criminals to come to you, you have to take the fight to them. The present strategy of waiting for the criminal to strike then make a frantic rush thereafter to catch them will not work. Being a reactionary Force would take us nowhere, our lawmen have to be proactive in this crime-fighting business.
Here again I highlight the fact that the Force was equipped with a number of vehicles gifted to them by The People’s Republic of China. Whatever became of those vehicles? Aren’t they to be used in crime-fighting?
What is the Police Force doing with those vehicles? There is no excuse in not having the mobile means to track down and arrest a criminal, so why aren’t we getting results? I am talking about getting the multitude of firearms out of the hands of criminals which is a sure way in bringing this present mayhem to a screeching halt. Criminals and persons of that persuasion must be ferreted out and dealt with, with the utmost urgency.
Finally, is there a real serious approach to gun crimes? I say a real concerted and determined effort on the part of our Police Force to tackle gun crimes? Or are we getting the subtle response that there are counter related information or instructions that really tie the hands of our lawmen? These are questions I would put forward to the Police Force and our “learned” National Security Minister.

Respectfully
submitted,
Neil Adams