The U.S. Embassy, through its Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL), recently agreed to extend its financial support for the highly successful project entitled “Strengthen the Criminal Justice System in Guyana” until March 2021.
The project will continue to build the capacity of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), and other justice sector entities through training and technical assistance.
Beginning in 2016, and with an original end in 2019, the project so far has built the GPF’s nascent forensic video analysis (FVA) capacity. The GPF has used FVA methodology and equipment in the successful prosecution of several cases. Additionally, the project has provided training and technical assistance in case management, including major crimes, crime scene management, evidence management and chain of custody, and law enforcement supervisory skills.
The Embassy has committed an additional US$850,000 to the project and extended the time frame to a total of five years. In full, the Embassy will invest US$1,796,394 in Guyana’s justice system through this project.
The Embassy notes the work of the Government of Guyana in ensuring the security of its citizens, in countering transnational crime, and in increasing effective and timely prosecutions, and is pleased to collaborate with Guyana on these efforts. By the end of this project, the Embassy intends for Guyana to have a cadre of police officers and justice sector officials who will successfully pursue and complete effective evidence-based prosecutions.
The Justice Education Society (JES) of British Columbia, Canada will continue to implement this project.
