‘We won’t stop until every Guyanese feels safe” – Blanhum on tackling crime

In a frank and sincere conversation during the third episode of Safeguarding Our Nation, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum assured the public that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) remains deeply committed to restoring trust and ensuring safety across the country stating “we won’t stop until every Guyanese feels safe.”
In fact, the GPF has increased its deployment of officers across crime-prone areas “to ensure that criminal elements do not take advantage of vulnerable persons,” according to Crime Chief.

“Crime today is dominated by disorderly murders, property-related offences, excessive alcohol consumption, drug trafficking, particularly at border locations, domestic violence and cybercrime. These trends guide our priorities. The reality is that most of the crimes are committed by a small minority of the population and that is why most of our attention is focused on key offences and hot spots. In a small country like Guyana, incidents feel bigger because they’re close to home,” Blanhum opined.
“Crime-fighting is not a police-only mission,” he emphasised. “We urge citizens: share your concerns, work with us, and help us close the gap between perception and reality.”
In closing, Blanhum said the police force’s vision goes beyond arrests—it’s about rebuilding trust, empowering communities, and safeguarding every citizen’s right to live free from fear.
“We as police must do more in showing the public what has been occurring behind the scenes. For example, increased visibility, community awareness and engagements and public awareness programmes aimed at urging persons to desist from listening to false or misleading information and to conform with reliable sources. We urge citizens to work with us. Share your concerns with us. Together we can make Guyana safer. Together we can work with the public to close the gap between perception and reality,” the Crime Chief said.
Last week, Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken reported that crime is down, when compared to 2015. He said the serious crimes rate is down 88 per cent, robbery with guns is down 88 per cent, burglaries and larceny have reduced by 93 per cent and murders have reduced by 63 per cent; all within the period 2015 to 2025.
He added too that actions taken include the issuance of body cameras to members of the GPF, diversifying the Force, erecting additional police outposts and engaging in building better relationships with communities.
“Very importantly, if something happens, it is the police you are calling. While we know we can improve our basic amenities that we have when dealing with the public, come in to us and don’t be our enemy, be our friends,” the Commissioner said as he encouraged citizens to build better relationships with the GPF.
Meanwhile, according to the Commissioner, the police force recently implemented a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to use stun guns or tasers instead of lethal force in escalating situations.
“Why we [are] using stun guns is because we want to comply with the use of force continuum. We hadn’t that, and so our use of force continuum could not have been represented properly. But now we have this stunt gun, we can use that better than using lethal force against the public,” he noted.
Force continuum refers to the level of force used by law enforcement in confrontation or arrest situations.