Who will implement it?

Mar 12, 2012 News

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Police Strategic Plan…

 

By Dale Andrews

Concerns are being raised about the Guyana Police Force’s Strategic Development Plan.
It’s almost two years into the proposed plan and the concerns surround just who will be responsible for its implementation.
If one were to take a look at the composition of the top bracket of the Force, it can be concluded that the organisation is not prepared for the task.
There seems to be absolutely no adequate preparations unless the Force plans to continue with the present status quo, with its senior management comprising of a number of retirees and potential retirees.

For example, several strategic departments are headed by retired officers some of whom are past the age of 60-years old.
Mohamed Jameer, who heads the Office of Professional Responsibility is over 60; Heeralall Mackenlall is nearing that milestone; Ivelaw Whittaker, the Public Relations Officer is also over 60 years; the Force’s Bandmaster, Cecil Bovelle is 64; Welton Trotz, who heads the Special Constabulary is approaching 60 years, so too is the Head of the Police Training Division, Clinton Conway.
Add embattled Police Commissioner Henry Greene to the picture and the position is quite clear.
The retirement age for members of the Guyana Police Force is 55 years.
Some people might say that these retirees are not in critical departments of the force.
However they are actually an integral part of the force’s senior management team by virtue of the positions they hold and they attend every critical senior management meeting of the organisation, where they give their views of the strategic management plan.
The reluctance on the part of the administration to give new blood a chance is quite clear.
There seems to be little faith in the young officers who will in the future have the task of leading a Guyana Police Force in a modern environment.
This is especially since those senior officers who have not yet reached 55 are fast approaching that age.
For example, Assistant Commissioners Gavin Primo and Clare Jarvis are scheduled to retire later this year, while A Division Commander George Vyphuis and Acting Commissioner Leroy Brummel have just over a year of official duty left before retirement.
Already Assistant Commissioners Steve Merai and Derrick Grovesnor have left.

So just who is going to see the plan through to its conclusion in 2015?
Of course there are Assistant Commissioners Balram Persaud, Carol Primo and Derrick Josiah, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud, and the very outspoken David Ramnarine.
So far this year, the force has not yet disclosed its list of promotions, leading to speculation as to who will comprise the future management of the organisation.
At the recently held Police Officers’ Conference, Assistant Commissioner Balram Persaud had delivered a presentation on the strategic development plan-which was reportedly well received.
This has led to frantic and desperate efforts to establish a strategic implementation unit at Force Headquarters, Eve Leary.
At this point, the unit has not been assembled; there is no formal structure; an office has not yet been set up and a leader for the unit is still to be identified.
The strategic plan is supposed to fall under the Office of the Deputy Commissioner responsible for the Force Administration but that person is now the Acting Commissioner.
“Six officers who form part of the force’s senior management are already on their way out. If you are looking into the future, then where are we going? And then there is no definitive word on whether the government will discard Henry Greene,” a Ministry of Home Affairs official told this newspaper on condition of anonymity.
The official recalled former Commissioner Laurie Lewis who was actually forced to leave the force at the age of 61 years old.
He questioned the wisdom of retaining the retired officers who are benefitting from duty free concessions and gratuity as part of their contractual arrangement.
This he said is affecting the moral of junior officers who are openly expressing their frustration.

“All of them made one famous statement; that they will not return once they reached the age of retirement. This statement was also repeated by Mr. Brummel recently and he was reminded by some of the retirees not to ‘speak so fast, look where we are’,” the source said.
The police strategic plan comprises: institutional administration; a results-oriented planning model; strengthening financial accountability and an electronic document management system among other components.
A key aspect of the plan is to make Divisional Commanders more accountable in terms of crime and traffic in their respective divisions.

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