Truancy, domestic violence discussed during Police outreach

Police Commander in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Superintendent Khemraj Shivbaran, along with Deputy Superintendent C. Duncan and other ranks, accompanied by Pandit Ajay Sharma, recently conducted an outreach in Lima Village on the Essequibo Coast in which residents were given opportunity to inform the Police of issues affecting their community.

Among the several issues raised were the prevalence of truancy, issues pertaining to criminal elements in society, and the stigma of domestic violence. Concerns were also raised about the public perception of law enforcement officials in the community, youth groups, use of illicit substance by youths, Police recruitment in the region, transformation of the GPF, delivery of services, and the use of the ZARA computer centers. Also discussed were modernisation of the GPF Academy and professionalism of ranks in the division.
Overall, in Guyana, the school dropout rate is about 2.0 per cent, while the Caribbean has an average school dropout rate of 20 per cent. This is according to an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report done in 2015.
This law enforcement team also had some interaction with cricketers and footballers, following which a follow-up visit has been planned for the new week, when the Police would be distributing footballs and cricket gear in its endeavour to cultivate better relations with residents of the community.