Tougher penalties for criminals and improved pay for members of the judiciary and police can help curb the spiralling crime problem, Chair-man of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) Cecil Kennard has said.

Kennard, a former chancellor of the judiciary, said general indiscipline among young people, the influx of deportees and growing unemployment are the chief contributors to the crime problem and must be addressed urgently.

Over 120 persons were murdered last year, close to 200 illegal weapons seized by the police and more than 700 robberies committed with the use of firearms.

During an interview with Stabroek News on Thursday, Kennard observed that too many young people frustrated by a lack of employment are turning to a life of crime. He said the issue must be addressed promptly, although acknowledging that the economy wasn't doing well and job opportunities were scarce.

Dozens of young men especially in some East Coast villages could be seen on a daily basis liming at street corners. Some of these young men are now hooked on marijuana and alcohol and are moving to other substances.

"Today it seems as if everyone has a gun and the situation is frightening," the former chancellor said. Accord-ing to him, crime whether violent or otherwise would always be a problem in society, but he said the authorities could do more to curb it.

There are "too many single-parent families and broken marriages in our societies and this is a very big problem," Kennard said. The consequence of single-parent families and broken marriages is a lack of parental guidance for children who are often left to choose a path for themselves at a very young age, Kennard remarked.

To fight crime, Kennard recommended increased pay, adequate police ranks and more vehicles. "I believe that our policemen/women are grossly underpaid when one takes into account the risk involved in their jobs."

But this is not the only issue. Kennard believes that at present the Guyana Police Force is not attracting qualified persons and this is due mainly to the low pay police officers receive. "They are then left to recruit men and women of little or no academic qualifications which undermines the profession and often brings the name of the organization into disrepute."

He said he could not object to any special incentives offered to the police, noting that they thoroughly deserve such rewards.

The former chancellor called for a more vibrant police cadet officers programme. He said while the force has an ongoing programme it was not well advertised and seems unattractive. He mentioned that more educated policemen would mean less corruption in the force and better results in prosecution.

At present, Kennard said, the police were failing miserably to prosecute persons in the courts and this was because of a lack of skills. He said lawyers were taking advantage of this.

According to Kennard the investigative capacity of officers also needs sharpening, observing that some of the work he has seen has been very poor. One way to address this, Kennard said was to raise the retirement age for policemen from 55 to 60. He said too many of the experienced and skilled officers were retiring, leaving the work to be done by novices who were often not up to scratch.

Another issue, which needs to be addressed at the level of the force's administration, he said, was the placement of ranks to work in districts far from their home. Kennard said while he agrees that ranks should not work in the district they belong, they should not be placed far from their homes. "Some of our policemen/women have families and they do not want to be too far away as this could affect bonding."

The former chancellor said he knows of police officers who have been very frustrated at having been placed in remote divisions, which virtually cuts off communication with their families.

Turning his attention to the judiciary, Kennard said it has a very important role to play in the reduction of crime. He believes that like the Chancellor and Chief Justice, judges and magistrates should receive tax-free salaries with better allowances. Kennard pointed out that at present a judge was receiving $1,800 in entertainment allowance per month, something he had received several years ago when he was a judge. "If you pay the judges and magistrates better you will get more out of them."

He also had a few words of advice for the judges and magistrates. "Justice is not only for the man who is charged but also for the victim." According to him there are too many cases that are being dismissed today, a worrying trend since on many occasions the man charged could have very well been guilty. He said judges and magistrates needed to work with the prosecutors who are often the cause of a case being dismissed. "You should not be too quick to dismiss a case on slight technicality... instead work with the prosecutors so that justice could be served," Kennard declared.

He said sentencing was another area to be addressed, observing that too many gun crime offenders were getting off with slight penalties. "We have to show the criminals that we are serious about tackling crime and one way of doing that is to impose stiff penalties on them."

Kennard said the feeling is that one can commit a crime, go to the courts and get off, or commit a crime and not be caught.