The Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday handed over a multi million dollar training complex to the Guyana Police Force. The new facility is expected to boost the training of recruits and ranks with new equipment and more comfortable classrooms.

But President Donald Ramotar wants the Police to pay a whole lot more attention to their crime fighting strategies. Speaking at the handing over ceremony the President highlighted the number of cases that were dismissed in the courts because of insufficient evidence being provided by the Police. He said too many suspected criminals are being able to walk free because of shoddy investigations.

The President also told those gathered that there is no place in the Force for “rogue” officers who give the force a bad name. He challenged the Police to also build their relationship with the communities they serve. Mr. Ramotar said “We cannot fight crimes effectively without having good relations within the communities themselves… they (community) must have confidence in the police force. They should see the police as their friends to work with, to overcome difficulties, and to bring criminals to justice”.

The new Police Training Complex was built through funding from the Inter American Development Bank.

Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee praised the assistance from the IDB.

Rohee said he is satisfied with efforts to decentralise training of the force at various levels and vowed to continue investing in the sector.

He said it is important too for officers to be updated with Information Communication Technology.

“It is expected that with the quality of training at the centre, citizens of Guyana will feel the difference in the quality of service provided by the Guyana Police Force,” Minister Rohee said.

He also stated that “the training centre has been constructed, not because training courses for officers are being conducted, but the conditions under which they were conducted were not conducive to the standard consistent with the modern police force.

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