The Guyana Safe City programme, which was launched in 2019 is now being expanded into a national “Safe Country” project, utilizing widespread surveillance, CCTV cameras, and AI technology to enhance public security and police response times, Minister of Home Affairs Oneidge Walrond has indicated.
Speaking on GoMoseley Radio, the Minister said the programme has been successful in crime solving and it will continue to be a central part of the crime fighting plan.
The programme features facial recognition and vehicle tracking, with billions budgeted to deploy the systems nationwide to combat crime and manage traffic.
“It started as the safe- city programme and it is now expanded because of the tremendous success that we are seeing in crime solving, it is now being expanded to a safe- country programme and what we are doing it is not being done in a ad hoc way, we have the statistics, we see where the hotpots are, the areas that are more prone to criminal activities and we are trying to address this, the idea is that in all of our communities people should feel safe and secure regardless of where you live,” the Minister said.
Minister Walrond said the programme will be incrementally rolled out across the country, but the aim is to ensure that every highway and major roadway have cameras.
Meanwhile, the Minister has assured that the data gathered from the cameras will be secured, saying that the data is being collected and monitored at the highest level of the Guyana Police Force, with serious consequences for breaches.
“Every single officer that work there are vetted, seriously vetted and they sign serious confidentiality agreements, hence you find we are immediately able to dismiss I.T officers. The Use of the technology comes with its pitfalls and when people manipulate the technology for their benefit or others benefit, have to be able to immediately enforce and get rid of that person,” the Minister noted.
Meanwhile, the Minister also expressed concern over the high number of crimes being committed by young persons, saying that her Ministry has been working closely with other stakeholders to get to the root cause of the problem.
“We have way too many crimes that are committed against young people because one is two many and being perpetrated by young people. So, we have we a problem and we will be able to take it. Some of it we will not be able to disclose some of our interventions as well, especially in the schools but are working assiduously to address this issue and we don’t want our children to be left vulnerable, so we are working in schools and in communities,” the Minister assured.
The Safe Country programme is currently active in several communities across Guyana.
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