By Shikema Dey
Through the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), the business community is working to establish a stronger relationship with the Guyana Police Force as part of efforts to tackle crime in and around the capital city.
Back in April, the GCCI had expressed grave concerns about the crime situation in Georgetown. As a partner in development and nation-building, a statement indicated that the Chamber is willing to lend assistance to the Police Force in any way possible to help combat crime.
Now, the Chamber is looking to make good on that promise to foster a better relationship with the force, according to GCCI’s President, Timothy Tucker. He was speaking during an interview with the News Room on Thursday.
Tucker said he is satisfied that since the Chamber issued its statement, there has been a noticeable decrease in criminal activities and props must be given to the Force. But notwithstanding that, there are still some areas where direct collaboration between the force and the business community is needed, Tucker contends.
“We are working with the Police Force. We have engaged in many activities in terms of sharing information…the private sector by itself has a lot of businesses as members [so] we encourage the Police Force to have a little more interaction with us, the Private Sector to we can better fight crime,” the GCCI President told the News Room.
The GCCI President further explained that the business community is growing increasingly comfortable after a recent visit to the force’s Command Service Centre.
There, the business community was given insight into the CCTV cameras and monitoring system positioned in and around the capital.
“We were very impressed in what we saw there, the level of footage and cameras, the quality of the footage, the level of cameras, the number of cameras, the wide cross-section that covers a good portion of the country.
“And with businesses installing more CCTV cameras, we can better help the police with their investigations,” Tucker indicated.
Meanwhile, the latest statistics coming out of the force for June show an 18.7% decrease in serious crimes compared to the same period last year.
As reported by the Commissioner of Police, (ag) Nigel Hoppie, robbery under arms decreased by 36.3%, while there was a 16.7% decrease in murder.
A total of 65 murders were reported up to June this year when compared to 78 for the same period last year. Overall, at the end of June this year, seven women have been the victims of murder compared to 20 for the same period last year. Of the seven victims, six were killed during domestic-related incidents, while of the 20 victims last year 10 were as a result of domestic violence.
While there have been decreases in other serious crimes from January to June this year compared to the similar period last year, the offence of rape has seen an increase of 70% with figures of 90 last year compared to 153 this year.
