Petty crimes on the increase

Commissioner of Police Leslie James says the Guyana Police Force has recorded an increase in petty crimes such as snatching of cellphones and handbags.

“We have noted that there might have been a spike, but I can say in terms of serious crimes at the moment we have a -3.4%,” the Commissioner told the media at the sidelines of an event Friday at Eve Leary, Georgetown.

The Top Cop said the Police Force is trying to determine what propels persons to commit crimes.

The Force has embarked on several social crime prevention programmes across the Police divisions and has also applied a number of tactics to deal with this scourge.

“It is simply clear that persons are still bent on dealing with crime. As you would have seen we have been dealing with them as they occur, we are dealing with them. We cannot prevent persons from deciding to commit crime but we are doing our utmost,” the Commissioner said.

Recently three teenagers who were caught on camera snatching a man’s cellphone were remanded to prison for robbery with violence.

On a separate note, the Commissioner says that a number of weapons recovered from crime scenes are being linked to previous crimes.

The Commissioner could not say how many weapons are being linked but promised to give an update on this matter.