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…Pres. Ali tells police confab
Stating that crime fighting in Guyana could no longer be business as usual, President Irfaan Ali, on Thursday, announced that his Government is moving to establish a Regional Police Academy and a digital ticketing system that can result in the suspension of licenses for those bent on violating the Traffic Laws of the country.
President Ali made the announcement as he delivered the keynote address during the opening ceremony of the Annual Police Officer’s Conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre on Thursday.
He said already, the Government is in discussion with its developmental partners on the creation of the Regional Police Academy that will benefit not only Guyana but the Caribbean and Latin American Region.
President Ali, in his address, also underscored the importance of having a ‘Smart Police Force’ that would intensify the use of Information, Communication, Technologies (ICT) to advance its work, particularly in the areas of monitoring and intelligence gathering.
In doing so, he proposed the conduct of a pilot study on the use of digital reporting boots in strategic areas, and further announced the coming of a digital ticketing system aimed at targeting errant drivers and other road users.
According to the President, “digital ticketing and recognition” systems will be installed as well as radars along the country’s main highways to detect traffic violations including speeding and seatbelt violations. Such systems, he posited, must be automatically linked to the suspension of licenses.
“Face recognition and vehicular license plate technology will also be utilized to help intercept law breakers,” he said while noting that these technologies will lead to safer roadways.
“The reckless use of our roads must be brought to an end. We cannot continue to lose our precious human resources to preventable road accidents. Our roads are for moving people safely around…,” he said.
The Head of State said with Guyana’s economy rapidly increasing, as well as that of public and private investments, it is expected that security in the country will be significantly advanced.
“Crime must not become a bug bearer for development,” the President said, as he iterated that “it cannot be business as usual when it comes to policing.”
“The Guyana Police Force must up its game,” he added.
President Ali said as part of Government’s plan to improve public security, investments will be made in the area of technology to ensure a system of rapid and resolute response to crime. The Safe City Programme, he pointed out, will be expanded.
“In order to boost crime fighting we are resuscitating and expanding the safe city programme. This year we have allocated $2.5B to expand the Safe City Programme beyond the boundaries of Georgetown. Our objective is to eventually connect the entire country with CCTV cameras,” he explained.
It was noted too that the Force’s forensic capacity is also being improved. These measures, he posited, are part of a plan to modernize the Guyana Police Force in keeping with international best practices. Attention, the President said, is also being placed on human resource development within the Police Force, as such, opportunities for training both locally and internationally are being made available to policemen and women.
He urged the officers to be professional in their conduct noting that there is no room for brute force and ignorance within the Guyana Police Force or in the execution of its mandate.
