Statistics show persons below age 35 responsible for street crimes-Deputy Commissioner Persaud

Georgetown : The Guyana Police Force is employing a variety of measures to address crime prevention in the country, with the majority aimed at youths, who statistically are the perpetuators of most crimes in Guyana.

This was disclosed by Deputy Commissioner, Law Enforcement, Seelall Persaud while speaking about the Force’s security plans for the upcoming festive season.

Persaud said persons below the age of 35 are the highest perpetrators of street crime, murder, breaking offences and rape. He said an analysis of the persons charged for crimes by age revealed that 78 percent of the persons charged in general are below 35, whilst 52 percent of the repeat offenders are below the same age.

Eighty percent of the persons charged with robbery related murders are below 35 years. This age bracket too is responsible for 93.6 percent of repeat offenders for street crimes, 74.4 percent of persons charged with breaking offences and 66.3 percent of persons charged with rape.

Persaud said that the force has been employing a strategy of increased visibility to counter crime, working within those environments known to turn out criminals. The Police and the Ministry of Home Affairs are working with youths, giving them vocational training in interpersonal relationship and domestic violence. These youths also take on the responsibility to work with the community on special social projects such as clean-up exercises, and drug and alcohol avoidance programmes.

Apart from these, the police also created youth and scout clubs, and recently launched a faith based initiative. The latter is aimed at reforming first offenders for minor offences through interaction with faith based officers.

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