Latest update April 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 15, 2008 News
– police to maintain regular patrols
The Guyana Defence Force has scaled down its presence on the East Coast of Demerara, following what appears to be a lull in criminal activities in the once crime-proned section of the country.
However, the army still maintains a minimum force in readiness for any upsurge in criminal activity.
Speaking with this newspaper yesterday, police Divisional Commander, Senior Superintendent Balram Persaud, said that while the heavy presence of the army is no longer visible, he is confident that the police can maintain law and order if the need arises.
“We still have our regular (police) patrols and we will maintain this as usual,” Persaud said.
East Coast Demerara was once considered the crime capital of Guyana, with heavily armed criminals who were hiding out in Buxton creating havoc in the district.
In the past not a day passed without reports of criminal activity being reported, prompting the Joint Services to deploy ranks from the Guyana Defence Force to supplement the regular police patrols.
Even ranks from the Tactical Services Unit were deployed on a regular basis to the area.
But for now, gone are the days when motorists were forced to endure regular roadblocks that sometimes stretch for almost a mile at a time.
While some residents along East Coast Demerara have welcomed the withdrawal of the army ranks, others believe that the criminal threat is still very much there.
“When they pull off the ranks, then the criminals who were lying low will come out and strike. So I think that at least some minimum presence should be maintained,” a popular East Coast businessman remarked.
Within the past month or so there has been a significant reduction in criminal activities, especially armed robberies, and, according to a senior detective in the district, this is as a result of most of the criminals being killed or placed behind bars.
The crime sleuth noted that the police are attempting to monitor the movements of a well known criminal suspect from Plaisance who was recently released from prison.
He disclosed that since the convict’s release there have been at least two robberies in the Sparendaam/Better Hope district for which he is a suspect.
“But the people are happy that they can now go about their business with some confidence. We have had some domestic matters but nothing compared to the crime that we have been having in the past,” the senior official said.
But despite the significant withdrawal of the army’s fighting forces from the district, they still maintain a presence in the Buxton backlands where infrastructural works on the farmlands are being conducted.
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