Traditional policing cannot fight crime in Sophia – religious leaders

Traditional policing, the law enforcement approach that focuses on arrests, is a popular policing tactic to help fight crime around the world, including in Guyana. However, religious leaders in Sophia, Greater Georgetown, are saying it cannot fight crime in their community.
This statement was made while Regional Commander Simon McBean was meeting with several pastors from various denominations in Sophia at the Love and Faith Ministry in Sophia.

The aim of the meeting was to discuss the possibilities of collaborative efforts to address the problem causing the high rate of criminal activities conducted in the community.
During the meeting, the religious leaders suggested that social cohesion is needed to mitigate crime in the community of Sophia and not “traditional policing”.
Those present at the meeting agreed that most of the illegal activities conducted are just symptoms behind the real problems persons are challenged with on a daily basis, hence, one entity cannot address the issues of crime in the community.
It was also noted that these illegal activities are conducted predominantly by young people, with the young men being the “high risk” group.
Several issues were identified, and as a consequence, it was suggested that a holistic approach to social crime prevention initiatives would be the most suitable strategy to address the root cause of the issue of crime and not traditional policing, to bring some level of stability to the community.
“There is a need for a positive change in Sophia. That change begins with us as community leaders accepting that we have a responsibility to assist in making that positive change a reality,” one pastor said.
At the conclusion of the meeting, a venue was made available for 50 youths in the community to be engaged by a group of community leaders from Government organisations and non-governmental organisations.
Only two months ago in an episode of Police and You, Commander McBean listed Sophia as one of the high-risk places in Georgetown for criminal activities. As such, he said works are ongoing to bring this issue under control.
“We are working on some areas. I would call them high-risk areas. Areas like Tiger Bay, Albouystown, Sophia, Agricola. In those areas, we are in the advanced stages of creating working and community groups…”, he explained.
Last year, residents in the area told Guyana Times that they live in constant fear of numerous robberies that occur in the area with no kind of security. As such, they had called on the Guyana Police Force to provide more security in the area.