Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken said this morning that the Guyana Police Force is challenged with addressing three major issues: unprofessional cops, narco-trafficking and language barriers in crime-fighting efforts. He made these issues known as he addressed the force’s Annual Officers Conference at Police Officers Mess Hall, Eve Leary.
According to Commissioner Hicken, while the force has made strides through government intervention to modernize and rebrand the police force, there are still a number of challenges which to some extent, stymie a turn-around for the force.
During his presentation, he announced that rogue elements within the force, continue to display unprofessional behavior and as such have been dealt with at the level of the judiciary. Hicken said a total of 21 police ranks are currently before the courts for various offences, some of which carry heavy penalties.
Another major hurdle for the force is its current approach in fighting narco-trafficking. While there have been several major drug busts this year, drug lords and drug mules are still finding innovative ways to traffic narcotics. **”Drugs seized, in terms of cannabis, 604 Kilograms, 928 Kilograms of cocaine, and of course ecstacy, 61.2 grams,” Commissioner Hicken said.**
Even with the outlined challenges, Commissioner Hicken said there have been successes too. So far, according to the Top Cop, there has been a 8.4% decrease in serious crimes. Hicken said there has been an overall sense of cooperation from members of the public, which signals public trust is slowly being regained.
As it pertains to traffic management, Hicken highlighted that while there has been a number of fatal accidents within the last few months, the statistics show that compared to last year, there has been a 10% decrease in road accidents. Against this backdrop however, the death toll for the year 2023 has already surpassed the figures of last year.
Hicken said too that a total of 51 firearms were taken off the streets so far for this year.
In addition, Community Police Groups have increased in numbers with now more than 250 groups established all across the country. This reflects a 26% increase of groups compared to last year.
Meanwhile, with $19B budgeted for the Guyana Police Force, Hicken outlined that the force will continue to build its capacity and further modernize its image to provide a better service to Guyana.
