Only five of 20 speed guns calibrated

There are currently 20 speed guns in operation by the Guyana Police Force, but of this number, only five were calibrated and certified during the testing stage of the new service offered by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS). It remains unclear when the remaining 15 will be calibrated.

Traffic Chief Superintendent Ramesh Ashram during the roadside testing of the newly certified speed guns on Wednesday last revealed that the inaccurate readings from the speed guns have proved challenging when prosecuting matters in the court. One of the requirements in court is to have the measuring devices used by the police force verified and calibrated by GNBS.

Following numerous complaints from the public about the inaccurate reading of speed guns, GNBS managed to procure new equipment – MultaRadar Equipment and Compact Device – from German company Jenoptik.

Solutions Architect Manager of the company, Corlan McDonald travelled to Guyana to conduct a two-day training with traffic ranks and representatives from GNBS to test the device.

The cost of the equipment and training amounted to $11 million. According to McDonald, the device is used in countries all over the world with high success rates.

Meanwhile, the Traffic Chief revealed that the majority of the guns are placed in Georgetown and other coastland regions.

There are no speed guns in Regions 1, 8 and 9 since there are limited vehicles and roads in these areas.  For the year thus far, 239 ranks were trained in the use of speed guns, breathalysers and tint meters.