This is the little police station in Mabaruma, in NW Guyana. Near the border with Venezuela, this town is relatively peaceful, and the police didn't seem to have a great deal to do. But it was still a skeletal service; the officers' uniforms were old, and the badges held on with safety pins.
This is the little police station in Mabaruma, in NW Guyana. Near the border with Venezuela, this town is relatively peaceful, and the police didn't seem to have a great deal to do. But it was still a skeletal service; the officers' uniforms were old, and the badges held on with safety pins. Meanwhile, next door, the town ambulance was up on bricks, with all four wheels out of action.
Elsewhere, the police were more stretched but equally impoverished. In places, crime is really getting the better of the population, and it is often the army (or GDF) who are left to sort things out. As the people of Ferguson, Missouri, will no doubt tell you, it's not a good idea policing with troops.
Guyana's difficulties with crime are not all of its own making. Drug money undermines the system – but the demand for drugs comes from Europe and the North America. The Guyanese are right to be angry about this; the European and American appetite for cocaine is ruining Guyana's police, judiciary and civil service.
Nor is Guyana helped by some clumsy political moves abroad, like deporting 400 Guyanese criminals from New York all at once. Georgetown simply couldn't cope, and is still reeling from this influx.
So what do you think? Should Europe and North America fund more of Guyana's police? That's all very well, but who'd ensure that the money was well-spent, or went to the right place? I'll never forget the sight of a large mansion in Georgetown, owned – it was said – by a corrupt traffic policeman. Clearly, the solutions won't be easy.
