Jagdeo reiterates support for use of deadly force to fight criminals

Mar 04, 2011 News

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President Bharrat Jagdeo has made no bones about his support for the police in the use of deadly force to deal with criminals.
Speaking at the opening of the annual Police Officers’ Conference at Eve Leary, Jagdeo told the officers that while his position will be deemed controversial, “If someone points a gun at you…you must shoot to kill.”
“I believe that every President should be unambiguous in his support for the Guyana Police Force,” Jagdeo said.
He acknowledged that he has been criticised in the past for his position by human rights groups, but he pointed out that he would prefer to stick to it than to have to be consoling relatives of victims of murders, which was the case during the infamous reign of the Buxton and Agricola gangs.
Jagdeo indicated that he turned aside advice to meet with criminal elements to make peace, opting to maintain that they will face the full force of the law.
Again the President, in his usual manner, lashed out at those who criticise the force and his administration as a whole.
“I know this will be controversial but I have no regrets,” the Guyanese leader told the Police Officers.
However he warned that his stance should not be interpreted as a blanket approval for the violation of human rights.
“I am in favour of human rights,” he stated.
With this in mind, the officers during their three-day conference, under the theme ‘Consolidating our gains through strategic planning and institutional modernisation for safer communities’, will no doubt be more at ease to deliberate strategies to deal with crime and traffic management.
The President once again reiterated his confidence in the leadership of the Force and congratulated them for what he described as serving professionally over the past year.
During his 30-minute address, he stated that the critics are persons with their own purposes who do not even have a goal.
The Guyanese head of state said that police officers like their counterparts in the Guyana Defence Force, would be aware of momentus changes that are sweeping across the world. And with this in mind, the government has been incrementally increasing the budgetary allocations to the security sector since the early 1990s.
In 1990, he said, the military budget was just US$3.1M, while this year it is a whopping US$66M.
But Jagdeo said even this amount is not enough, “we need to double or even triple this figure.”
According to the president, while Guyana needs help in the security sector, his administration will not be compromised to the extent that they will be lectured to by persons in the developed world.
He pointed to the withdrawal of the promised financial assistance from the British government for the Security Sector Reform Programme.
“When the British programme became too intrusive, we said no… we will not allow foreign powers to dictate how we run our country.”
Referring to the drug trade, Jagdeo urged that the force must ferociously fight drug dealers, although some countries want to “turn the Guyana Police Force into their own drug fighting arm.”
He said that when Guyana had requested help for its fight during the crime wave, “we were told that it was domestic… but even help to fight drugs was not enough.”
With regards to succession planning within the organisation, Jagdeo said that some persons would just wish to see some consultant come in and draw up a plan, which he stated will cost a lot of money.
His strategy, he noted, was to instruct the Chief-of-Staff to train 50 Cadet Officers from Guyana Police Force, 10 from the Prison Service and 10 more from the Guyana Fire Service, over a three-year period.
This, he said, has been achieved with tremendous success, to such an extent that these organisations are now equipped with persons with knowledge to take over the force in the future.
He urged the present crop of officers to work with these Cadets so that the transition will be smooth and effective.
But while the President’s assessment of the present state of the Police Force appears to be satisfying, Commissioner Henry Greene lamented the fact that, already for the year, crime figures show a nine percent increase in crime.
“We have not done well… and we will have to review why. We would look at illegal firearms.
We know where they are coming from,” Greene said.
According to the police commissioner, statistics will show that last year 109 illegal firearms were seized, compared with 82 in 2009; 128 in 2008; 115 in 2007 and 118 in 2006. In the area of traffic, Greene complimented the road users of today, whom he said are contributing significantly to the reduction of road accidents and deaths.
He also revealed statistics that show the dramatic decline in the number of children who have been killed on the roads.
Greene attributed this in part to the rigorous campaign carried out by the Police Traffic Department, which managed to bring the road fatality figure down to under 100 in 2008, and which has maintained it to a reasonable level since then.
The Commissioner did not forget to mention that in light of the criticisms that are plaguing the force, his administration has been constantly addressing delinquent and criminally-minded ranks.
He said that presently, there are some 80 ranks before the courts for dishonesty.

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