Felix to speed protective gear for policemen
Gajraj to contact parties on crime approach - President
By Patrick Denny
Stabroek News
August 15, 2002
Amid murderous attacks on policemen, Deputy Commis-sioner of Police, Winston Felix is to leave Guyana at the weekend to speed up the procurement of protective gear and weaponry for the force.
This was announced yesterday by President Bharrat Jagdeo who also disclosed that Home Affairs Minister, Ronald Gajraj has been assigned to contact the various political parties which have been calling for a national approach on the present crime situation.
The Deputy Commissioner is the head of the task force overseeing the implementation of the initiatives President Jagdeo announced at a State House press conference on June 7.
Speaking with reporters at an Office of the President press conference yesterday, President Jagdeo said that the instruction was given to Felix "to go out and come back with the items" at a meeting on Tuesday afternoon with the senior officers of the various police divisions as he wanted the procurement completed by the time he meets again with them in a fortnight.
Responding to questions from the press, he expressed disappointment that the various items had not yet been acquired as their acquisition was among the short-term measures in the June 7, initiatives The President said that the bulletproof vests, shields, helmets and weaponry "are vital to policemen at this time" and would boost their confidence. He added that the allocation for the protective gear would be doubled as he wanted to be sure that they were available in sufficient numbers.
Following the Monday night attack on the Impact patrol on Brickdam in which three policemen were seriously injured, ranks attached to that section of the force voiced their concern to the Commissioner of Police about their safety while at work and the need for more effective equipment.
Asked about the deterioration of the crime situation since the June 7 initiatives were announced, President Jagdeo said that he was very careful to say at the time that he could give no assurance that there would be no crime. Also, he said that he had indicated that some of the measures would take some time to implement such as the creation of the SWAT team. He said that the measures he announced are "to provide more training, to better equip the force to handle the crime wave in terms of weaponry and protective gear (and) would restructure some bodies like the intelligence unit."
"Intelligence is vital to improve the investigative capabilities which are all very important to fighting crime".
President Jagdeo stressed that no government could give an assurance that crime would stop. " ... In this region crime will be with us for some time given what's happening at the regional level and in Guyana." Commenting on the recent attacks on policemen, which since April have resulted in the deaths of eight law enforcers and injuries to around a dozen others, President Jagdeo maintained that it is a result of the constant stream of propaganda for over two years against the police by talk show hosts and some politicians. He said that attacks are meant to demoralise the police so that they would not pursue the criminals.
Asked if the government's confidence had been shaken as a result of the reports about some members of the police and Guyana Defence Force (GDF) being involved in crimes, President Jagdeo said that the actions of a few deviants did not make the whole army corrupt.
About the alleged arms sale by some soldiers, President Jagdeo said that the GDF had reported that it was on top of the matter and that only one weapon was missing.
He stressed that anyone in the army found to be involved in criminal activity would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Commenting on the call by the opposition political parties, President Jagdeo said that he welcomed it as it echoes sentiments he had expressed some time ago.