Tourists are main targets at Bourda, Stabroek Markets – Chief Constable

As the City Constabulary has branded the Stabroek and Bourda Markets as two criminal hotspots, they are now seen as key areas for tourists and foreigners to be robbed on a daily basis.
This is according to the Chief Constable, Andrew Foo, who told Guyana Times during an interview, that many tourists do not report these incidents and as such, the robbers continue plying their trade.
“Stabroek and the Bourda are two areas that continue to be prime areas for criminal elements to operate. Based on the fact that you have economic activities for persons who are selling and who are buying. Persons are conducting their trade and in keeping with that, you have key elements every day.”
“There’s a trend emerging where I would say what is termed to be ‘soft targets’. They tend to look at persons who may be possibly foreigners or tourists, because, in most cases, when they’re robbed, some don’t make official or formal Police reports. They tend to just leave the country,” he said.
Foo noted that while these persons – mostly Cubans and Venezuelans — are the main targets, there are citizens who are marked by these criminals at key locations which are busy throughout the day. He stated that for these incidents to decrease, those who are mugged or robbed must report the offence.
“We have information where you have small networks that are operating. We tend to focus on those persons. Sometimes, there are persons who are robbed. Those persons don’t want to pursue matters.”
Meanwhile, the Chief Constable also related that the network of robbers usually operated in gangs, using cellphones as the main medium of communication.
“They have networks that I believe that they’re utilising because we’re in the age of technology. There are times when these persons are using their cellphones to communicate with each other,” he said.
While systems were put in place to monitor these occurrences at all costs, the city lacks Police ranks to carry out these patrols and other functions. Some measures have also been taken to address these issues.
“We have a responsibility of ensuring that those areas are kept safe. It’s my desire for there to be an increase in our numbers, so as to ensure that we have effective public safety and security around the municipal locations,” the Chief Constable said.
“We’ve been having reports in relation to those activities. Again, in keeping with what we have, we’ve been implementing measures to treat these reports, to have a presence where necessary to arrest and prosecute those persons who are responsible,” he added.