Crime is down – Police Commissioner

Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken on Tuesday said the crime rate in Guyana is down, when compared to 2015.

During his appearance on this week’s edition of ‘Safeguarding Our Nation’, a pre-recorded programme streamed on the GPF’s and other Facebook pages, it was reported that the serious crimes rate is down 88%, robbery with guns is down 88%, burglaries and larceny have reduced by 93% and murders have reduced by 63%; all within the period 2015 to 2025.

However, the question was posed about people still feeling unsafe despite these statistics. To this, Hicken said rebuilding trust is an ongoing priority.

“Yes, we know crime is down but the public is not feeling it because they are not engaging the police within the region and the branches,” he said.

“We are striving every day to be more transparent as a police force…the Guyana Police Force has changed,” he added.

Some actions taken in this regard 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 using stunt gun 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.

Recently, the GPF in collaboration with the Guyana Prison Service, the Amethyst School of Martial Arts, and the Security Training Academy, launched a “Taser Certification Course” (covering CEW, TX200P, and BWC systems) for officers.

This is the first time a non-lethal approach of this kind is being implemented in the Guyana Police Force.

In December 2021, the Police Force Act was amended to pave the way for cops to use less lethal weapons such as pepper spray, tasers and stun guns when responding to certain cases where civilians physically and forcibly resist arrest. The amendment piloted by Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn, also allows for ranks to be armed with other weapons such as nightsticks, batons, clubs and tear gas, as well as rubber-coated bullets and water cannons.