2008-7-27: POLICE FORCE MUST ACT NOW TO AVOID EMERGENCE OF VIGILANTIES

The Alliance For Change expresses its outrage at violent robberies which continue unabated and most recently resulted in the death of Akbar Alli of logwood, Enmore, East Coast Demerara. Despite all of the high security measures put in place including the gifts of vehicles, the constant aerial surveillance by helicopters, and high level training sessions of SWAT units being shown in the daily news, the average citizen and businessperson are now more vulnerable to criminality. The AFC extends its deepest condolences to the bereaved family of Akbar Alli, and to his friends and colleagues.

The AFC demands that serious measures be put in place to protect the citizens who travel to the city to conduct business and are being preyed upon and exterminated like sitting ducks. The time has come for the members of the Police Force to come out from behind their barricades and confront the criminals on the streets and in their dens. If the police hierarchy remains safely cocooned within fortified walls and sunset street closures, what confidence does any citizen have that his or her life and property are safe. Unless the Police Force acts now to serve and protect a new form of vigilantism would emerge.