Police force working to address fatal accidents, murders

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) is looking to roll out a holistic plan in the coming weeks to effectively address and reduce the increasing number of fatal road accidents.

Commissioner of Police (ag), Clifton Hicken made the disclosure at the force’s 184^th Anniversary Awards Ceremony held on Thursday at the Police Officers’ Annexe, Eve Leary, Georgetown.

The plan will be rolled out in collaboration with various partners, stakeholders, and ministries and according to Commissioner Hicken, it includes an extensive education programme, signage along different routes, and strict enforcement of traffic regulations.

“We’re going to have a symposium that will address some of these issues … We understand we have challenges in relation to traffic and road users, but we have a plan,” the top cop disclosed.

Meanwhile, as the force continues to reform and rebrand in alignment with its 2022-2026 strategic plan, it has recorded a few achievements from 2023 to date, including a 12.6 per cent reduction in serious crimes from January to date.

This is with the exception of murders, which have increased by 37 per cent when compared to 2022.

“That is 85 against 62 for the period comparatively…all other categories of serious crimes are at a negative or a minus,” the commissioner highlighted.

There has been a 13.3 per cent increase in the number of illegal firearms that have been seized in 2023. Some 68 firearms were seized to date compared to 60 in 2022 during the same period.

Other successes include the decentralisation of police services including passport applications and issuance, police clearance and fitness, the sale of firearms and ammunition, and registering the police academy with the National Accreditation Council, among others.

The force is also increasing its human resource capacity as thousands of ranks have benefitted from various training opportunities.

Some 3,007 ranks benefitted from local courses while 75 benefitted from overseas training courses.

“1,080 benefitted from the gender-based violence training and were deployed to gender-based violence units in the regional division, with a view to serve the public and to create standardisation,” Hicken related.