President Bharrat Jagdeo says the recent successes of the security forces in anti-crime operations stem mainly from better collaboration between the police and army, as well as the support of the residents of Buxton and Friendship.
The Head of State, during a brief meeting with members of the media at State House yesterday, commended the work of the joint forces, whose members have, in recent weeks, shot and killed several wanted men. However, President Jagdeo warned that people should not become complacent:
“The police and the army have learnt to work better together, [they are] more co-ordinated. The police have developed some capabilities... At the beginning, there was a rapid change in the nature of crime and their [the police’s] response time was a bit slower than it is now,” the President said.
Violent crimes in Guyana began to soar 15 months ago after the 2002 Mash Day prison escape, and since then many people, including two dozen law enforcers, have been murdered. It appeared that the police had met their match with the well-armed criminal gangs.
But the President said there were several things in place now, which had been lacking before.
“[There is] better operational planning [and] I am seeing a greater effort on the part of the army. [Then] people started getting fed-up of these bandits in Buxton - they [the bandits] were killing people in there, causing major economic problems - so more and more intelligence started to come to the security forces. When that happened, they [the security forces] could have done more targeted operations. I had no doubt about our capabilities if there was a confrontation with the bandits. In spite of them [the bandits] having heavy weaponry, they can’t outgun the police and the army. But the big issue was getting to that stage,” the Head of State told reporters.
Questioned on the possible involvement of the American government in the recent successes of the local crime fighters, the President said he was not aware that there was any formal help in any of the operations from the United States.
“Definitely, when the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] came here, they offered to collaborate... mainly around the kidnapping incident [of US diplomat Stephen Lesniak]. People were identified as having done the kidnapping, [but] it did not extend to the army across the board, or the police across the board. Several things have happened. I think that, especially for the last couple of weeks, that... our intelligence [is] better working with the army and police together on the ground.”
Throughout the session yesterday, the President had high praise for the armed forces, especially for the professionalism they exercised during the Brown shootout in Prashad Nagar on Thursday, which was done with minimal civilian casualties.