Stabroek News
June 12, 2001

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) says very few criminals give themselves up without a fight and this often puts its ranks in severe danger.

It is urging law abiding citizens to condemn the crimes which are now taking place and those who would seek to support these acts by concocting their own versions of the violent encounters between the police and criminals.

In the wake of a series of fatal shootings by the police of wanted men, the GPF has come in for strong criticism.

In a press release yesterday, the force's public relations department stated that certain TV and other personalities are seeking to vilify ranks by resorting to deceit and concocted versions of the encounters between the police and criminal elements.

According to the release, instead of condemning criminals and their activities, many vilify the police who in the constant face of death continue to do their duty to protect citizens.

Guns and knives, the release further stated, are tools in the trade of criminal types and approaches to them lead in most cases to an expression of violence which could sometimes result in injury or death as in the case of constable Eloye Adridge who was shot to death in the Sparendaam Police Station on Saturday.