[File Photo]

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon confirmed that the State will be receiving aid from the US in the form of training sessions and capacity enhancement initiatives.

“We are receiving help, international help…there is a training programme going on now with the police, with some foreign law enforcement agencies, that are assisting in the training and capacity building of the police force and crime scene investigations and matters of that nature,” said Harmon.

In the 2015 Fiscal Budget, the Ministry of Public Security was allocated a total of $12 billion to strengthen and improve national security services in the country.

Additionally, the government is fine-tuning a comprehensive Public Security Plan, in which emphasis is to be placed on combating crime; regaining trust of the police force; improving police investigative capabilities by rebuilding an efficient and effective criminal intelligence system and the Criminal Investigation Department; improving recruitment standards and training by revitalizing the Cadetship Scheme; counteracting human, drugs and arms trafficking; and acquiring vehicles and equipment for modern policing to fight banditry, piracy, terrorism and other violent crimes.

A total of $11.9B will be expended to support the operations of the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Prison Service, Guyana Fire Service, and the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) and $9.1B is budgeted for the Guyana Defence Force.

The government also revealed that it will establish a command centre to enhance crime response capabilities, resuscitation of CCTV feeds within the Georgetown to Timehri environs and improvement in 911 services countrywide.