Govt. will not allow Police Force to be headed by “tainted” persons – Rohee

Jun 04, 2012 News

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– congratulates Brumell and Persaud on new appointments

 

 

“The government has no intention of standing still in fulfilling its responsibilities to ensure that the leadership of the GPF is held by persons who, in so far as the Government of Guyana is concerned, are not tainted, but have a clean bill of health and are expected to continue in that same vein so long as they hold that or those positions.”- Rohee

The Government of Guyana will ensure that the helms of the Guyana Police Force are held by persons who are not “tainted”. Additionally, those in the Force’s hierarchy are expected to continue to be without stain as long as they hold on to those top positions. This was mentioned by Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, as he was in Berbice on Saturday, addressing senior officers and other ranks at the Felix Austin Police College (FAPC), ‘B’ Division at Adventure on the Corentyne.
Rohee was speaking in the context of Friday’s new appointments at the top of the organization.
President Donald Ramotar approved the promotions of Crime Chief Seelall Persaud and Asst Commissioner of Police, Leroy Brumell, DSM, to Deputy Commissioners of Police during a meeting with Opposition Leader, David Granger at the Office of the President.
Brumell has been performing the duties of Police Commissioner ever since the embattled Henry Greene demitted office amidst a scandal of rape and a court battle that led to the Director of Public Prosecutions recommending that he be charged with rape.

According to the Home Affairs Minister, the recent appointments are an extremely important signal to the rest of the Force.
“The signals are for the Force, that you have competent persons in your organization who are capable of holding these positions,” The Home Affairs Minister said.
“The significance of these moves is that you require such persons to be accountable to the government for the activities of the GPF. And the significance of this move for Guyana is to signal to the people of Guyana, that the government has no intention of standing still in fulfilling its responsibilities to ensure that the leadership of the GPF is held by persons who, in so far as the Government of Guyana is concerned, are not tainted, but have a clean bill of health and are expected to continue in that same vein so long as they hold that or those positions.”
Rohee said that the new appointments are a major step in the transformational process for the Guyana Police Force.
“We therefore, look forward to firm decisive and transformative leadership of the two Deputy Commissioners.”
Rohee announced that he expects in the not too distant future that the two promotions will be bolstered by further moves to bring about upward movement within the Force, “much to the satisfaction, we expect, of those who have expectations and one day look forward to becoming a Deputy Commissioner if not a Commissioner.”
Rohee noted that the significance of the recent appointments “is to be found in the recognition of the administration that not having had a Deputy Commissioner for a considerable amount of time, we felt that the time had come to put an end to the situation where only the Commissioner was there to hold the fort, as it were, at the highest level, when he needed Substantive Deputy Commissioners to assist him in this respect.”
The Minister admitted that there “are other vacancies” within the Force, but in the deliberate judgement of the President and the Administration, it was felt that the right thing to do was to have consultations with Leader of the Opposition on the matter.
He noted that the government pays a lot of attention to the middle management of the Force and it is also “comforting to know that there is a reservoir of cadets within the Force that provides that critical category of ranks within the organization that is so strategic for the orderly and effective transition from one generation of senior police ranks to another.”
The new generation of senior police ranks, he said, will inherit the new and modern technologies with complex applications as a tool for law enforcement, crime prevention and crime detection.
The challenges posed by modern day technology and modern day world itself, he added, are enormous and complex.
“From the use of forged documents, identity theft, cyber crimes, to simple larceny, robbery under arms and murder, it is important to recall, that there is no one single pathway to solve any crime, but it is to be expected that information communication technology can play a major role in assisting law enforcement to fulfill their duties.”
Rohee congratulated the men at the gathering for reaching “another milestone in their career paths”.
“I convey my warmest congratulations [to Brumell and Persaud] publicly, since this is the first occasion I have to express my support and congratulations to you.”
Brumell used the opportunity to introduce Rohee as the Guest Speaker at Saturday’s IT Lab Commissioning, to praise the Minister and speak very highly of him to the gathering. “I refer to him as the Chief Security Officer in Guyana because he fights anywhere he goes– if he is with the army, fire or anything, and he is discussing security, he always wants them to know that ‘I am the person’ and he ain’t telling them ‘I am in charge’, but how he talks– you know that he is the man!” He noted that Rohee has been “an inspiration to us in the Force and is a man made for work.”
Brumell further patronised Rohee by saying that it is not because he received the promotion that he is saying those things.
He publicly announced his joy in “working with you [Rohee] on the first occasion and I am enjoying you more on the second occasion, because you are more aggressive and you are keeping us on our toes.”

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