Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 23, 2016 Editorial, Features / Columnists
In Guyana, the people have seen it all in terms of the vicious crime being committed against them almost daily. Many are horrified and traumatized and have taken shelter in their houses outfitted with iron bars. If nothing else, the multiple brazen killings that marked the start of 2016 have reminded Guyanese how dangerous the country has become and how brutal the criminals are.
The killings have also made law enforcement aware of what they will be up against in 2016. The headlines screaming the daily murders send a grim and chilling message to the people that criminals still torment the hapless. It is the same in every country. For example, scarcely a day passes without a report of a shooting or murder by some other means.
The safety of the public is not guaranteed anywhere. Gun violence, murders, rapes and armed robberies are common. Guyana is not exempt. The police have their work cut out for them as the criminals continue to be emboldened despite the heightened arrests. Gun violence resulting in deaths has become a reality of life in today’s society. And if the beginning of 2016 is any yardstick to measure the ruthless behavior of the criminals in Guyana, then the people and the police are in for a rude awakening.
Despite the assurances given to the public by the Guyana government that the police will step up their game against the criminals, yet murders and armed robberies are committed in broad daylight. The criminals are so bold that they do not wait for darkness to commit crimes.
This type of lawlessness and runaway violence has become the norm in a society in which anyone could be robbed and murdered anywhere and at any time of the day. Age, gender or status will not deter the criminals, who have no sanctity for life or respect for anyone.
In less than two weeks into the New Year, the police arrested the alleged killers of the British born Dominic Bernard at Kildonan on the Corentyne and Doodnauth Rajkumar and Diane Charmalall of Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice. Several other hardcore criminals have been arrested and several gangs disbanded.
While the efforts by the police are impressive, crime and gun violence continue to spiral out of control.
The drive to take illegal firearms off the streets under the gun amnesty programme last year had limited success. For one reason, Guyana’s borders are very porous and this has made it very easy for guns to enter the country illegally and undetected. Today, there are more guns and ammunition that are available on the streets for the criminals than any time before, thus confirming the inability of the government to control the situation. However, the people are still very hopeful that the government will eventually succeed in the battle against crime this year.
The methods used by the Police to assess and combat crime are old and well known. While the government and the police experiment with new crime-fighting strategies, the people are waiting with bated breath. And even though the police have succeeded in solving more murders and armed robberies recently, they must fine tune their crime fighting techniques in order to have an upper hand on the criminals.
The people are looking forward to the day when the government and the police can keep them safe from the criminals. But it will take a spirited effort by the government and all stakeholders to fix the problem.
Legislations that gave police and prosecutors the tool to fight crime and gang-busting have been in place for a while, but they have hardly yielded much positive results in the past. They may or may not be outdated, but the government must put an end to this lawlessness killing that has brought home some painful feelings in the first five days in 2016, when six persons were murdered.
Please share this to every Guyanese including your house cats.
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