Police ranks injured by Buxton residents
Stabroek News
September 16, 2002
Four ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) were injured by residents of Buxton yesterday morning during a joint army-police patrol in the Buxton community.
On Saturday a joint patrol had been subjected to verbal abuse, mostly from women, when police patrolled the area for the first time in six months.
When Stabroek News visited Buxton yesterday afternoon, the village was calm and the injured ranks had already been transported to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GHPC) where they received treatment. A Guyana Defence Force (GDF) patrol was seen close to Brushe Dam with guns at the ready.
The police in a press release yesterday said that members of the GDF had already been on patrol in the area before being joined by the ranks of the GPF. During that period there had been no incident, but as soon as the police ranks joined the patrol at Brushe Dam, a crowd of about 75 persons assembled and began to attack the police hurling missiles at them and also making insulting remarks.
According to the statement, one rank was lashed on his right cheek with a piece of iron by a female resident, another was struck by a rock on the right side of his forehead, the third was hit on the back of his neck by a missile, while the fourth received a lash to the back of his head.
Meanwhile, during a visit to Annandale and Non Pariel by this newspaper, residents complained about inadequate police patrols and the non-response of the GDF to certain violent crimes.
On Saturday the Joint Services issued a statement saying that both the GDF and GPF had intensified joint law enforcement activities in their fight against criminal activities within Georgetown, on the East Coast and on the East Bank Demerara. During a public consultation at the University of Guyana on crime last week, an army spokesman had stated that one of its roles in the village of Buxton was to restore confidence to the police force in the village.
At Annandale yesterday residents told this newspaper that they had not been seeing the evidence of the increased security that the government and the GPF had been promising them. Similar remarks were made by an elderly man in Non Pariel. Both these villages have been under siege from bandits recently and during a raid in Non Pariel some 13 bandits attacked a group of residents at a wake, torching a handicapped man who later succumbed at the Georgetown hospital.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday Nazim Khan of Annandale said that he was not aware of any police patrols in the area. He said that the only time police ranks were seen in the area was 30 minutes after an attack on the village. The man gave credit to the GDF, despite claiming he was still unclear as to their purpose. Khan mentioned that a few months back, an old woman was robbed in the village and while the bandits were still in the area GDF ranks were seen sitting on the tray of a pick-up not too far from the scene.
Khan also said that of late almost every 15 -30 minutes there would be a GDF patrol in both north and south Annandale, but when it came to the police, they had not been seen.
Residents from neighbouring Buxton had threatened to burn the property of a businessman, Alimudeen Noorhassan. After receiving the threats for several days the businessman had opted to move out of the village, but he said he had been persuaded by the police at Vigilance not to leave since they would provide security for him and other villagers. To date he had not been seeing the police presence as had been promised, and he too added his expressions of disgust at the situation, saying that he was still receiving threats. The Vigilance Police station is the closest police outpost in the area, and residents communicated their dissatisfaction with the conduct of some officers attached to the station.
In addition, while Annandale had been subjected to more severe attacks by the marauders, residents of Non Pariel claimed that while they were not secure, they felt somewhat safer now that there was a constant army presence in the village.
They too complained about the absence of the police, adding that not only were they not there but whenever anyone tried to make contact with Vigilance Police Station the lines were either engaged or no one was there to answer the call.
At a consultation on crime held at Annandale Secondary School last week Friday residents had raised these issues. In a press release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) on the results of the meeting it was reported that the general feeling in the area was that the police and army could do more to stem the current crime situation. Residents had advocated at that consultation that more equipment, weapons and increased wages for the armed forces should be some of the priorities of the government if they were serious about fighting crime.
Moreover, they observed that the police stations did not have proper communications equipment that would allow them to be in contact with each other, especially if officers were in the field. Some link should be established, they said. The residents reiterated at the meeting that there was need for increased patrols in the area since criminals were roaming the streets which made citizens fearful because the police at Vigilance were afraid to venture into the area.
Besides, according to the release, the residents felt that the army should assign soldiers along the borderline between the two villages of Buxton and Annandale, since criminals had been known to walk freely into the Annandale community. The businessmen had also expressed their desire to have licensed firearms to protect themselves and their property.