Paramaribo, 15 November – Three ruling VHP (Vooruitstrevende Hervormings Partij) members of Suriname’s National Assembly (DNA) have laid out a comprehensive set of actionable demands for the national government during a dedicated parliamentary security interpellation session, pushing for urgent overhauls to law enforcement responsiveness, community safety protections, youth crime prevention frameworks, and accountability mechanisms to reverse eroding public trust in the police force. Led by assembly representative Chuanrui Wang, the legislative trio – which also includes fellow VHP parliamentarians Cedric van Samson and Ameerani Jarbandhan – raised granular, data-focused queries and policy proposals aimed at addressing longstanding gaps in public safety that have left residents vulnerable to armed robbery, criminal exploitation, and inadequate emergency response.
Wang, who spearheaded the oversight push on law enforcement operational capacity, presented a series of pointed questions to security ministry officials, seeking transparent data on unaddressed calls to the national 115 emergency hotline, the share of distress reports that result in actual police deployment, and average response times for armed robbery incidents. He also pressed for full disclosures on the number of serviceable police patrol vehicles, and the number of on-duty officers allocated to frontline surveillance and emergency response shifts. A core priority he emphasized was establishing ironclad safeguards for civilian informants and crime witnesses, to eliminate the risk of their confidential personal data being leaked to criminal networks. Wang further called for expanded victim support services, and a shift in enforcement strategy that targets not just low-level robbery suspects, but the full criminal supply chain including crime kingpins, illegal arms traffickers, and fencing operators who profit from stolen goods.
For his part, Van Samson centered his advocacy on boosting visible community policing presence across Suriname. He demanded clear figures on how many officers previously reassigned to exclusive VIP protection details have been reallocated back to regular frontline patrol duties, arguing that consistent, visible police presence in residential neighborhoods, entertainment districts, and around school campuses is critical to deterring criminal activity. He proposed launching a structured neighborhood watch network linked via dedicated mobile application groups that connect local residents directly to district police commanders and community safety coordinators, to streamline real-time reporting of suspicious activity. Van Samson also echoed Wang’s concerns about the 115 hotline’s reliability, warning that widespread fear of informant data leaks is discouraging ordinary citizens from filing official crime reports entirely, further undermining law enforcement’s ability to track and disrupt criminal operations.
Jarbandhan, meanwhile, focused her policy proposals on protecting vulnerable youth populations who are disproportionately impacted by violent crime, either as victims or targets for recruitment by criminal networks. She requested official demographic data on the age profiles of both crime suspects and underage victims, and full details on existing crime prevention programs operating in high-need, low-income neighborhoods. She stressed that any effective long-term security strategy must integrate targeted interventions to address root socioeconomic drivers of youth criminality, including youth unemployment, high secondary school dropout rates, systemic poverty, and limited access to vocational training opportunities. Her proposed framework calls for formal cross-sector collaboration between the national police force, local school boards, community nonprofits, and multiple relevant government ministries to align youth support services. She also demanded expanded police staffing capacity in the regional districts of Commewijne, Wanica, Saramacca, and Marowijne, dedicated psychosocial counseling support for child victims and witnesses of violent crime, and expanded education and reintegration pathways for young people returning to their communities after periods of detention.
Rejecting what they described as empty government public announcements on public safety, the three VHP legislators have insisted on binding, measurable accountability benchmarks. Wang called for formal independent performance evaluations to be published at three-month and six-month intervals, tracking metrics including emergency call response rates, crime detection rates, and reductions in armed robbery incidents. Jarbandhan formally requested the government to table a formal 12-month national security action plan with clearly defined, quantifiable targets for crime reduction, youth prevention, and witness and victim protection, with mandatory periodic progress reporting to the National Assembly to ensure full public oversight.
Oppositieleden willen snellere politiehulp, veilige aangifte en bescherming jongeren
