Stronger partnerships being cemented between police, Bartica residents

GUYANA, GINA, Thursday, March 9, 2017

Police officers in Bartica, Region Seven are working to build stronger relationships with residents to reduce crime in the town, and surrounding communities. This was emphasised as critical to the security of the new township by Commander of ‘F’ Division, Ravindranauth Budhram.

The Commander during an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA), said that rape continues to be a serious challenge for the Region with over 40 reported cases in Bartica, last year. Most of the cases, Commander Budhram pointed out, involved a relative being the perpetrator.

In light of this situation, Budhram said the police have begun to take steps to address this scourge by going to the various schools to conduct educational sessions with students. “We try to tell them that this must not happen, and if this happens, you must report it. Tell the teachers and the teachers will call the police, and we are going to take some action,” the Commander explained.

This awareness is being undertaken in collaboration with the Ministries of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs and Social Cohesion. However, the Commander noted that last year aside from the rape cases, Bartica did not record any serious crimes. The success can be attributed to increased police patrols and the relationship the police have fostered with members of the public after launching their ‘team policing’ programme.

“The team policing actually identifies who is operating where and what they are responsible for. For example, if two persons cover the arcade, they have to know all the persons there, interact with them, share their numbers, if they got a problem they call them and so on,” Commander Budhram said.

The idea behind the team policing programme is to raise the level of confidence the public has in police officers. Commander Budhram further highlighted that, “you can call and share information; we do not want to know who is calling, just the information we need.” This move will aid in the intelligence-led policing efforts being made to prevent and solve crimes.

By: Isaiah Braithwaite