Daily number of gun crimes worrying, but overall crime rate is down -says Crime Chief

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum today said while there has been a slight reduction in gun robberies and murders between January and mid-November, both categories of crime remain a source of worry for the Guyana Police Force.

Daily number of gun crimes worrying, but overall crime rate is down  -says Crime Chief

The daily number of gun crimes and robberies in the country remains worrying although the overall crime rate has been decreasing, according to the Police.

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum today said while there has been a slight reduction in gun robberies and murders between January and mid-November, both categories of crime remain a source of worry for the Guyana Police Force.  

During a presentation on the crime situation in the country, Mr. Blanhum said so far for this year, a total of 119 murders have been recorded when compared to 133 for the same period last year, which represents a 10.5 % decrease in the number of murders.

“However, nationally, the murder rate per 100,000 persons continuing to be a source of concern for us,” the Crime Chief said.

He noted that serious attention is also being given to the number of gun robberies that are being committed on a daily basis.

There have been 335 gun robberies recorded so far this year, which is an average of one gun robbery every day.

During the same period last year, 477 gun robberies were committed.

“And this is the state of affairs, and we are acutely aware that putting out crime reduction (statistics) to the members of the public and the media that it doesn’t do much. What is more important is the state of mind of persons and in some communities, there is a fear of crime and that is why we continue to engage members of the community- that we ensure law and order and we maintain public security and safety, ” Mr. Blanhum said.

The Crime Chief has also raised concern about the number of youths in their teens that are committing serious crimes, noting that it is a situation that must be addressed urgently.

“So we are pleading with family members to ensure that we work together …many of the young persons they have been influenced by social media and harden criminals to live a life of crime and we prevent that we want to work with the youths, we want to devise programme for them to ensure that they do commit a crime,” the Crime Chief posited.

Only recently President Irfaan Ali outlined a crime-fighting approach that includes a gun amnesty, a programme for youths involved in crime, and a plan to cover the country with more CCTV cameras.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login