911 system must work, says Vice President

The 911 system “must work”, and in a manner that “holds people accountable”, Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo said during his press conference today.

Dr Jagdeo explained that calls made to all police stations will be recorded—not only at the respective station but also in a central database. These plans form part of broader efforts to improve law enforcement across the country.

“We intend to, at the police stations, if you make a call at the police stations, then the call gets recorded and then transferred to another system where it is also recorded, so later, a policeman can’t say—whether they’re in Whim or in Buxton—‘I didn’t get this call’… and the content of the call is recorded,” he said.

In the next term, the government will be hiring young people to implement the required changes within the system.

“Some of the systems can’t run with the same mindset as some of the people who are currently manning them, because they’re not attuned to using technology to solve problems,” Dr Jagdeo explained.

The current employees, he said, will also be retrained through scholarships in cybersecurity, camera maintenance, and other related areas.