What’s going on?

Oct 09, 2010 Editorial

The police have issued wanted bulleting for nine men, some of whom have featured in the press during the crime wave that erupted after the 2002 Camp Street jailbreak. They were often reported to have come into conflict with the gunmen who had made Buxton their safe haven.
The police, in the past, had cause to issue wanted bulletins for some of these men. When the men surrendered to them all that happened was that the police asked them a few questions, detained them for a day or two and then released them. The society often wondered at the reason for the wanted bulletins. These are only issued for people who are considered dangerous.
Recently, there was a spate of executions in the city, the first of which occurred in Cummings Lodge on September 5, last. Five people died in a hail of bullets. The police immediately announced that one of them was a criminal of no mean order.
We then queried the reason for the police sitting on this information until the person was gunned down. Others asked the same question and the police remained quiet. Since that shooting three others died in the same manner—in a hail of bullets from high-powered rifles. The society began to ask questions and again it transpired that the police claimed to have information on the dead. Once more the questions surfaced.
These questions must have irked the police because suddenly they have issued wanted bulletins for men who have been accused of drug dealings in Guyana. More questions now arise. Do the police have information linking these men to the shootings? Did they try to arrest these men before they issued the wanted bulletins?
We know that not so long ago one of these men turned himself in to the police based on reports that he was wanted for questioning. Within two days the police released him without demanding that he report to them. The inference was that they had no further use for this individual. But suddenly there is a wanted bulletin for him.
Are the police fishing or are they acting on hard information? To deprive an individual of his freedom on whims and fancies is certainly not in keeping with the Constitution. We can only conclude that the police believe that they have enough evidence to seek to detain the ten men for whom they have issued the wanted bulletins.
We cannot help but note that the police have been known to be casual with evidence. Just this week we noticed how they botched the investigation into the death of Neesa Gopaul. They failed to collect crucial evidence and only did so at the instigation of a member of the public.
The pathologist could not access certain evidence to properly conduct whatever forensic investigation he needed to do. It was shoddy investigation at worst.
In the wake of release of the wanted bulletins people close to those being sought told stories of the police the failing to make an effort to contact these people. One man said that the police knew the business headquarters of those they sought but never attempted to find the men there.
In other countries, the issue of wanted bulletins is a last resort. It comes after the police have exhausted all avenues to apprehend the person being sought. Perhaps the police are signaling that they cannot easily arrest the men. This is an indictment because no one is mightier than the law.
It could be that the police want to embarrass the people who have come under the radar. By telling the country that these people are being sought, the police are actually criminalizing the men. At a time when the police want the cooperation of everyone it would do well to build bridges.
At the same time there is the tenet that suggests that a person is innocent until proven guilty. However, Guyana has already deemed those in the wanted bulletin to be guilty. This is unfortunate. It is also unfortunate that none of these men would be charged with any crime and would be released within a few days.

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