Armed forces adapted well to fight criminals -Gajraj
By Samantha Alleyne
Stabroek News
June 7, 2003
The armed forces’ ability to reconfigure and strengthen their operational units has been a major factor in current successes against the new breed of criminals.
Minister of Home Affairs, Ronald Gajraj, speaking at a press conference yesterday said violent crimes had not been eliminated from the country but their frequency had certainly been reduced in recent days.
After fifteen months of bloodshed, the last few weeks have seen a dramatic shift in the security forces’ approach to and progress in the war on crime. Several notorious criminals including Guyana’s most wanted fugitive, Shawn Brown, have died in confrontations with the armed forces.
Gajraj said these successes were, “due mainly to improvements in the crime fighting capacity of the police and the assistance rendered by the Guyana Defence Force and other security agencies in the maintenance of peace and security especially on the East Coast of Demerara.”
He said the force was working on improving its relationship with residents of Buxton/Friendship. He said visits were planned to the villages for officers, and relations had already improved with the police able to enter the village on patrol.
He disclosed that members of the force along with civil bodies had met with residents in an effort to pave the way to developing better relations.
And he declared that the security forces had no agenda to execute anyone not even the criminals. But should criminals be hostile towards the ranks and engage them in gunfire they would be forced to protect themselves. He warned that the security forces would also be hostile to anyone who harboured criminals and condoned their activities.
Asked if had any response to the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) which has questioned the account given by the security forces of how six men had died on Wednesday morning in Friendship during a shoot-out with the police/army, Gajraj replied that he had not seen the GHRA press release but pointed out that both security forces issued releases giving an account of what had transpired.
He added that whenever deaths occurred during armed confrontations between the police and criminals, an inquiry was carried out and “the chips will fall wherever.”
He said the force would not support ranks who went out of the realms of operations and murdered criminals or any other persons. But he could not say how many inquiries had been completed and said the problem lay with the courts in completing the inquests.
It was pointed out that Senior Superintendent, Steve Merai, was involved in one such inquiry and had been allowed to leave the country and had never returned.
Gajraj said Merai had not returned “yet” pointing out that his absence has not prevented the inquiry from continuing.
Asked why the police were not arresting criminals and bringing them before the courts, he said that whenever it was possible the police did arrest these persons. He pointed to Dillon George who was arrested, charged with murder, carried before the court and later freed. However, his reprieve was short-lived as he was killed by police on Thursday just over a month after gaining his freedom.
Questioned about the setting up of a SWAT team, consisting of persons from both the police and the army, the minister said that this was on stream.
He said the force was considering offers from overseas agencies to assist in setting up the team.
Deputy Commissioner Operations, Winston Felix is heading the team working on setting up the new unit.
However, there has been a glitch in acquiring equipment and vehicles that fit specifications used by the British security forces. This is important because the British have volunteered to assist Guyana in setting up the unit.
Persons from both security forces have been identified to be part of the new unit and training has begun. Gajraj suggested that it was because of this training that there had been better synchronization between the army and the police in fighting crime.
