TIME FOR FOREIGN COPS TO BE BROUGHT IN

Aug 12, 2012 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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The contracts of two non-nationals recruited to run the police force of Trinidad and Tobago recently ended. The extent to which they were successful at what they were tasked to do will be debated for some time but crime-fighting was never going to be easy in that country and the foreign nationals recruited always had their work cut out for them.
While the opposition in Guyana is busy passing motions, they seem to have totally ignored the need to address the security problem which has gotten worse because of the penetration by elements of the trans-national crime. In fact, during the last Budget debate, the opposition did not object to the allocations for the Disciplined Services but they chopped the subsidy provided to the GPL only to now approve it.
The Guyana Police Force needs radical transformation, far beyond what can be achieved by shuffling around senior staff, changing a few heads every few years or even to what is not being done: linking financing of the Police Force to reforms. There is need for sweeping changes in the way the Force is managed and trained.
But if Guyana were to follow the Trinidadian lead and recruit foreign nationals, there is going to an uproar in the country and serious resistance within the Guyana Police Force.
Even rank and file Guyanese who are concerned about the security problem in country, a problem which has existed since Independence are going to be opposed to have the Guyana Police Force headed by a foreigner.
As such the government should settle for a more acceptable option. They should invite a team of foreign policemen to come and be responsible for administering the administrative aspects of the Guyana Police Force. That will allow nationals to continue to occupy the top echelons of the Guyana Police Force but would ensure that the administrative departments of the Force are placed into hands of recruits from overseas.
This will free a great deal of resources to do traditional crime fighting.  At present there are complaints about the shortage of police officers. And indeed if you go to some police stations at nights it will be observed that there is a skeleton staff there at most times.
Despite the Police Force having more persons than it did under colonial rule, there is still talk about the Guyana Police Force being short-staffed. The reason for this is that far too many police officers are engaged in a different kind of police work rather than being involved in traditional crime-fighting.
The traffic departments, though undermanned, are still large. Then there is a large Immigration staff involved in the issuance of passports.  The police also handle firearm applications and licenses, and a section of the Force used to be responsible for the constabulary.
These are all areas where the police should give up responsibilities. The police, period, should no longer be involved in the certification of vehicles for fitness. When one considers the tens of thousands of vehicles on our roadways, it is truly amazing that each year, considering the limited number of police stations available, the police can still be able to issue all those fitness certificates when they become due.
The police are also involved in certifying drivers as to their competency to drive. This is yet another area that should be given to private companies to run so as to free the Guyana Police Force or more ranks to man their stations at nights.
The issuance of passports and the manning of ports of entry are other areas which can be relieved of responsibilities. There is no reason given the technology that is now available why the issuance of passports cannot be decentralized and handled by a government agency.
It is also about time that we have a revamped Immigration. Officers could be trained in foreign languages because this is wave of the future and Guyana should not have police officers performing these duties.
None of these proposals are new. None are radical. They have been around for a long time. What is lacking is the political will to do this and this lack of political will is also what is responsible for some of the problems now afflicting our country because if there was strong political will and the Joint Services were given instructions and they could not carry out those lawful instructions, then action ought to be taken.
If there is any criticism that can be made about the PPPC government is that it has been weak-kneed when it comes to dealing with the Guyana Police Force and the Disciplined Services.
By now international assistance should have been sought and had for reforming the Guyana Police Force from bottom up. By now we should have had foreign nationals manning important positions in the security apparatus as we have had in Trinidad and Tobago.
Guyana will have more success if instead of bringing someone to take over the top job of the Force, as was done in Trinidad, experts are brought simply to take charge of administrative and financial duties.
It is time the government gets serious about reform of the Guyana Police Force.

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