The Guyana Police Service: Whom does it serve?

Feb 24, 2013 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Two weeks ago, I went to the police station to uplift a tent the police seized last August from the People’s Parliament on the second day of the occupy movement. I was ushered into the office of Commander Vyphuis. He was in a high-level meeting with his top officers. There were about twelve of them. Here I was in the same room with the crème de la crème of the Guyana Police Force (oops, Service) and the first thing that came into my mind was to tell these people that the police service was not serving the people of Guyana.
I did just that, but not in my usual abrasive manner. First, in a light way, I made the point that it was interesting to note that the former Commissioner of Police, Henry Greene, died and left a lot of assets including mining concessions. I did ask the question as to how he acquired all that wealth. This is public knowledge, because his relatives are in court over the division of his assets. I did say to the gathering that it is my belief that senior police officers take political direction and that was unprofessional. I now repeat that allegation.
I pointed out to Mr. Vyphuis that there were three officers sitting there that provide a good name to the police and I pointed to a particular one who had to intervene in a police investigation last year at my request and his conduct was very professional. Here is what happened. I got a call saying that one of my nephews was under arrest at Eve Leary for stealing coconuts from one of the richest men in Guyana and probably the Caribbean. On arrival at Eve Leary, my nephew told me that the employer’s guard had beaten him and two of his friends. Part of his head was swollen.
I told the officers at Eve Leary that there must be two investigations – one on the supposed coconut theft and the other for assault. They were not interested in the beating allegations. The guards of the rich man were right in the compound and the police were not interested in talking to them. The very guards transported the three men to the Brickdam police station where they were promptly put in the lock up for the rest of the night. The guards were never even questioned despite my protestations.
The next day I went to see this senior officer and demanded (yes, demanded) that the guards must be brought in for questioning. He agreed. That was the end of the matter. Had they proceeded with the alleged coconut theft, they had to question the guards for criminal violence. But they couldn’t. The police would not have touched the guards of this multi-billionaire. The police in Guyana do not touch the wealthy class. The Guyana Police Service in fact seems to be in the service of the moneyed class. They serve the rich class.
You can call the police every hour of the day to report the most heinous crimes, if they involve people from lesser economic strata and citizens from ordinary districts, the police take a million years to come or they never do. But let a big firm or a wealthy businessman call the station to report embezzlement. With supersonic speed, a vanload of policemen arrives. You let a huge retail firm complain of theft, the Black Clothes ranks are on the scene immediately looking for the burglars, even in the rat-infested gutters.
There may be some good men and women in the Guyana Police Force (forget about the stupid name change to “service”) but the police ranks, from constables through traffic ranks through to detectives, right up to superintendents, have terrible bad eggs among them. The pay is cheap, so the police pay special attention to the needs, demands and complaints of the wealthy classes. It could be rape, murder, violent attack, etc., once the cries do not come from the moneyed stratum, the police couldn’t be bothered.
The Guyana Police Force does not serve the needs of the society in totality. If you are poor, you are on your own. If you are poor and an allegation is made against you, then prepare to spend time in the lock-up.
I end with a funny story. I made a fuss about not being allowed to park on the parapet next to a fancy business place. I yelled out that I was going to the police to settle the matter. One of Guyana’s most prominent citizens was in his car laughing. He said to me, “Freddie yuh sure is not the owner who pays the police that you will bring?”
Writer’s note: I didn’t get the tent back

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