This may explain why the crime situation continues unabated. Incompetence is rife in the police force as this administration is content to kick back and enjoy 50% raises while the population suffers.

Are the police doing enough to track down wanted persons?

–   Poor communication cited

Poor communication and a limited number of ranks may be some of the reasons why persons, who are wanted by the police for various crimes, including murder, are roaming the streets freely.
This is according to the Commissioner of Police, Seelall Persaud.
There have been several questions as to whether the people are doing enough to arrest wanted persons.
Responding to this question, the Commissioner said that there are a number of things which have been preventing the police from identifying and picking up wanted men.
He listed communication as the main reason followed by the number of ranks needed to develop profiles of these wanted men.
“We have 3600 ranks deployed and there is a communication issue. We know that someone is wanted at one police station but the extent to which the information is shared is a problem,” Persaud explained.
He went on to say that dedicated work was supposed to have been done to develop profiles that will help those who are actually making the arrest but, “The number of persons that we can deploy to do that at this time has to do with our ability to communicate, so it gets down to that patrol man down on the ground.”
Within the past couple of months, a number of wanted persons have been arrested by the police in some of the busy streets of Georgetown.

Shawn Fordyce

Jermaine Simon

Commissioner of Police, Seelall Persaud

Some of them have been on the Force’s wanted list for as long as five years. However, those same persons were right under the police’s nose daily but were not recognized for a very long time.
Only last month, 26-year-old Seon Anthony Edwards of Diamond, East Bank Demerara, was arrested in the vicinity of Regent and Hinck Streets, where he was selling bottled water.
Edwards was wanted by police for the 2010 murder of Rawle Peters, called ‘Dumb Boy.’
Peters and Edwards had an argument over $300,000 during which the victim was chopped to death.
Edwards was only arrested when a passenger in a mini bus pointed out to a cop that the ‘water vendor’ is a murderer. Had that passenger not recognized Edwards then he would have continued selling on the streets.
Also, in October last, Shawn Fordyce, a man who was wanted for carrying out a brutal cutlass attack on his wife and three daughters back in 2013, was arrested in the same house at ‘B’ Field Sophia where he carried out the attack.
Prior to his arrest, Fordyce had been selling newspapers in some of the busy streets in Georgetown including Mandela Avenue.
Now, this is someone whose photograph was once pasted on some of the walls of some police stations but yet he went on with his life without being noticed.
In November last, 24-year-old Jermaine Simon called ‘Lapsy’ of Lot 41 Norton Street Bagotstown, EBD, was shot dead, allegedly by a member of a rival gang, Anthony Trim, who is still on the run.
Simon was wanted by the police for killing Ryan Sooklall in March 2015 at Providence, EBD.
According to reports, he and Sooklall had a falling out that saw Sooklall and his gang shooting up Jermaine Simon’s home.
The following day, the 24-year-old Simon retaliated by walking up to Sooklall and pumping bullets into him.
A wanted bulletin was subsequently issued for him but the police were unable to make an arrest.
Members of the public however believed that the police are not doing enough to arrest wanted persons since they claimed, Jermaine Simon was roaming Bagotstown freely.
He had been operating a shop in that community.
As the Guyana Police Force continues to move forward in their crime fighting strategy, the Commissioner said that this year, not only will ranks know the names of those wanted but they will know exactly what he/she looks like. Kaieteur News understands that this will be done via the setting up of a database.
Knowing the names of criminals is not enough, but having an idea of what the person looks like will help a lot.
Recalling an incident in May 2014 when four prisoners escaped from the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court by ripping the grill work and mesh that covered the window at the back of the building, the police had no idea who they were looking for.
Two reporters from this media house had to send a photograph of the escapees to the police via social media.
This newspaper was told that there are currently 105 to 120 persons on the wanted list. These include persons who are wanted for robberies under arms, rape and murders among other crimes.