Many people are not upset by a ' Phantom force' if in fact there is one, as it would seem that many notorious criminals including some of the so-called 'freedom fighters' have been ' taken out' by them.
The PNCR themselves have been attacking the police for not being able to protect the citizens and some members of the police and the Guyana Defence Force have in fact according to media reports been lukewarm in going after the criminals.
Day after day and night marauders from Buxton preyed upon minibus passengers, with policemen and soldiers in near proximity who did not go to their assistance or round up the criminals.
Take the notorious case of the Chester family whose homes were burnt down. When they tried to flee the gunmen fired at them to keep them in the houses so they could have been fried alive but they managed to escape, while the soldiers present did nothing to attack the criminals.
The soldiers were in fact more concerned, while they were stationed in and around Buxton, with studying and debating the finer points of constitutional law than in carrying out the basic job of protecting citizens.
Police stations in and out of Georgetown were more concerned with protecting themselves than with protecting the citizens.
You remember the murder of the owner of the Hamilton Gas Station, Brian Hamilton, this crime was caught on the tape of surveillance cameras, and it was not clear what procedures were followed or breached in the custody of the tape and what was caught on it.
Somehow or the other, this tape was never shown on the television stations which were 'lucky' enough to come into 'possession' of the tape of a notorious prison escapee who with an AK 47 machine gun, was able to hold forth before television audiences like Osama bin Laden.
So, if certain people are willing to be a part of a 'Phantom' group or gang to bring some terror to those who seem to feel immune from the long arms of the law, many citizens will have no problem with this.