Latest update April 24th, 2024 12:59 AM
Mar 18, 2018 News
By Leonard Gildarie
On Thursday, just after lunch, I was on the East Coast when I received a call. Somebody was killed on the seawall near Eve Leary. I did not pay much attention as in the newspaper business, these incidents are “normal”.
But then the phone starting ringing incessantly. It was three bodies.
I hurriedly ended my engagement and raced to the scene. The area around the Kitty pump station at the head of Vlissengen Road was blocked, with a policeman directing traffic.
With the Eve Leary side blocked too, I headed into GNS Sports Club which overlooks the seawall. There were three bodies on the ground, two on the seawall road and one in the grass nearby, and the initial indications were that the men were executed by some men who sped off.
There were some Brazilians who were playing football on the GNS ground who fled after the gunshots. It was “big guns” that were being used.
The police in a subsequent statement were quick to point out that surveillance and collaboration played a role in taking down a gang that was responsible for a spate of robberies of customers leaving the bank.
The police disclosed that they had operatives performing duties in the vicinity of Scotia Bank on Robb Street.
It appeared that a suspicious car was seen leaving the area and following a customer leaving the bank. The “customer” went to the seawall and was about to be accosted by the men in the suspicious car when police rolled up and in the ensuing “shootout”, three men were dead. They were all known characters.
Police said they recovered a pistol, a supernumerary precept, one driver’s licence, ten passports belonging to one of the men and family members, a key used by trunkers, two handcuff keys, a bandana and clothing.
There are several worrying things, and of course some positive aspects about this particular incident.
For a number of years now, customers leaving the commercial banks were being robbed. Quite a number of persons were killed. In most of the cases, the customers were followed to their homes and accosted after a large sum was withdrawn.
A number of them would bear the scars of gunshots, after surviving the ordeal.
In the beginning, the fingers were pointing to bank staffers being involved. Police were unable to make much headway.
Questioned recently, the Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan, disclosed that police were taking a number of actions, including sting operations. There was laughter at Ramjattan.
Who would signal to the bad boys of an impending action to catch you?
Perhaps now, the police and Ramjattan will both have the last laugh.
The police said that surveillance and collaboration played a role in Thursday’s apprehension of the gang.
Robb Street is a busy area near China Trading and Scotia Bank. For the cops to be able to notice a suspicious car and spring an operation which saw backups converging to the seawall, speaks of a force that is improving in performance.
My father as a policeman died in the course of duty in the 1980s when I was just six.
There has perhaps never been a more harsh critic of the police than myself.
But I would be burying my head in the sand if I didn’t admit that we have done so much better in recent years. Quite a number of cold cases were cracked and investigations in some others solved a number of murders that would otherwise have remained in dust, locked in a drawer somewhere.
Training and the intervention of overseas donors, a clear crime-fighting strategy and the weeding out of bad cops, have been improving the morale of the police by leaps and bounds.
Daily, there are traffic checkpoints in the city and on the East Bank Demerara.
I am more than 80 percent of the times stopped and asked to pull into the corner. I am not sure if it is racial profiling and the fact that I look like an easy target.
The courtesy of the young police ranks is heartening, never mind some of them greeting you with the long-time-no-see smile. Some would pointedly state they have been on duty for hours. Really?
I would help sometimes with a few juices, there is nothing wrong. Other times, I end the conversation quickly and give my card, and encourage to call if any story breaks. The smiles would end quickly.
But, overall, yes, we have been improving in leaps in bounds.
We could not help but take note of the police statement of Thursday’s incident, which gave credence to surveillance and collaboration.
We have to find ways to really make inroads into community policing. That is the way to help weed out crime. Everybody knows which yard is the ganja yard or who doing the ‘dutty’ things.
We have to find ways to have businesses be more vigilant and continue efforts on all fronts to reduce our cash transactions. There are few things more attractive than cash for robbers.
There is another side of this affair that has been nagging me over the years. As a country, we are small and considered now as a developing nation. Our human resources remain the biggest value for this country. It aches my heart when we have our people taken early, where they are career criminals or accident victims and snatched early. I often wonder how families pick themselves up and move on.
Three men were killed Thursday. They all have family – brothers, sisters, children, parents and of course, friends.
The social media responses were swift. Guyanese were tired of the robberies. But still, I think of the families, the little children who are affected. Family members and friends must have known what the men were up to. We have lives torn apart by their selfish acts. We have victims of robberies celebrating. It is a bitter-sweet time for us. But it should worry us as a people too.
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