One of the government’s most important jobs is keeping the country safe. In carrying out this mandate, the APNU+AFC Administration said it expended $34.7B for last year. Disclosing this was the Ministry of Finance in its End of Year Outcome Statement.
The Ministry noted that in 2019, $34.7 billion of the $35.6 billion budgeted for the security sector was expended to improve public safety and security across the country. It was further noted that approximately $13.3 billion (of the budgeted $13.8 billion) was spent on crime prevention and reduction.
Expounding further, the Ministry said that reform of the Guyana Police Force continued, including expansion of its Divisions, from seven to 12, to align divisional boundaries with the country’s regional administrative boundaries. Construction also commenced on divisional headquarters at Mahdia, Anna Regina, Fort Wellington, Diamond and Mabaruma, while 12 police stations were refurbished and repaired to meet common minimum standards.
The Guyana Standard understands that the reform also included the formation and operationalization of several new units within the Criminal Investigations Department, such as the Cyber Crime Unit, the Firearm Investigation Unit, the Missing Persons Unit and the Cold Case Unit, as well as the creation of an Environmental Unit at the Police Headquarters, along with sub-units in each Regional division. Additionally, each Regional division benefitted from the establishment of the Divisional Base Management Information System, which complemented the Electronic Data Management System (EDMS) and the Police Records Management Information System (PRMIS).
To improve the quality of policing, it was noted that officers were trained in critical areas such as: Integrated Crime Information System and Crime Intelligence, Crime Scene Management, Transnational Crime, Fraud and Financial Crimes, Interviewing and Interrogation Techniques, Informants and Gathering Intelligence, Basic Forensic Bloodstain Pattern Recognition Course, Forensic Video Analysis, Advanced Crime Scene Photography and Scene Drawing, Occupational Health and Safety, and Public Relations.
Further, to restore public confidence in the security services, it was noted that the 911 service was re-established, and the use of body cameras, which was launched in Regional Division Four, is now widely used in most Regional divisions.
