Monica Reece syndrome
Editorial
Based on a visit he made to Guyana earlier this year, the United Kingdom's Caribbean Regional Police Adviser, Paul Matthias has issued a number of recommendations to the government for improvements in the police force including the need for an intelligence-led approach to policing and the establishment of a Crime Prevention Unit. The recommendations can hardly be classified as epiphanic but Mr Matthias was of course only relaying to the government what has been transparent to the layman and those without any specialist training in policing. It is evident to all and sundry that in the prosecution of its tasks, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has exposed serious deficiencies in the areas of intelligence gathering and crime prevention. These weaknesses diminish its capacity to accumulate evidence against suspects, undermine the cases that police prosecutors present in courts, prevent the gathering of information on criminal gangs and their likely activities and ultimately make it impossible for crimes to be prevented. The police are then left to react to crimes which they might have otherwise been able to thwart. And it's in their reactive mode that their deficiencies most often burst into the glaring spotlight. While the top brass of the police force can argue that crime is generally under control, the number of unsolved high-profile crimes and the impunity with which houses are invaded and householders terrorised say otherwise. And it is against these cases that the success of police efforts must be measured. The insolvable murder of Monica Reece in 1993 has become the watershed event in policing over the last six years or so. The brutish crime and the shortcomings of the police investigation in that one effort have acutely defined the difficulties facing the GPF. If one were to review some of the major crimes that occurred from around the start of this year it would be clear how serious the problem is. * January 15, a family was held hostage by a gang and $5M in cash and jewellery taken in a robbery at No.70 village. Only one man was taken into custody. * January 25, the proprietor of a West Bank concern was injured in a raid by bandits. One attacker - who was on another robbery charge - was shot dead by a householder. The others fled. * January 29, octogenarian Dorothy King was savagely murdered in her home. No one was ever charged. * February 7, restaurant owner Yong Min Soo was shot dead in a robbery. Two suspected assailants were taken into custody. * March 13, a $1.5M robbery bid at Bartica was foiled when an alarm was raised. The gang comprised four. Two men were later remanded to prison. * April 12, an Annandale family was robbed by a gang of $351,000 in cash and jewellery. A nearby resident who heard their shouts for help called the Vigilance police station but was told that those being robbed had to make the call themselves. * July 7, Sophia businessman Richard King was shot and killed by bandits. His store was among five attacked during that night. Despite a tantalising nickname clue, substantial progress has not been made in this probe. * July 15, Commerce House cambio was robbed of $13M by a gang. One person was placed before the court. (The accused had actually been picked up in Brazil and returned here.) * July 25, a businessman of Le Destin was battered by bandits. Four men were eventually held by the police with the help of residents. * August 13, masked bandits invaded the Big G shop and made off with $175,000. No one has been charged. * August 18, the Teakaram family in Cummings Lodge was terrorised and the bandits made off with about $3.5M. No one has been charged. * August 20, Davis Memorial's doctors' wing was invaded by bandits and guards beaten. One man has been placed before the courts. To this list of serious crimes can be added many others that have not been satisfactorily resolved. Home Affairs Minister, Ronald Gajraj has to gauge his success the same way the police are being evaluated. If these major crimes remain insoluble or see only a token arrest here or there or cases collapse in court because of shoddy work it will be a reflection on his management of this ministry. Mr Matthias's work provides just another reminder of some of what needs to be done. The problems remain the same, low pay, feeble firepower, corruption, absence of undercover work and poor intelligence. It is up to President Jagdeo, Minister Gajraj and Commissioner Lewis to reverse this tide of pernicious crime.
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