Police Commanders could face sanctions for division’s failure

Sep 15, 2013 News

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By Dale Andrews
It is not surprising when blame is cast upon the Home Affairs Minister and the Commissioner of Police for the steep rise in crime. In fact the Home Affairs Minister has within recent times borne the brunt of criticisms for the apparent lack of proper measures to deal with the country’s security crisis.

There have been calls for his resignation and the Opposition has even issued a no confidence vote in the National Assembly against Clement Rohee, who has been responsible for the security sector for the past seven years, a period that has seen mild success and embarrassing failures.
But what about the people who are directly tasked with executing the security plan–the Divisional Commanders?
Well according to a number of security experts, they too should be held accountable for what is apparently the rise of another crime wave.
Within the past two weeks there have been serious crimes and rumours of crimes that bear an eerie resemblance to the unforgettable days of the 2002-2008 crime wave.
And while Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell has indicated that it was not time to press the panic button, sanctions against those Divisional Commanders who fail to implement the required strategies to deal with growing crime in their Divisions have not been ruled out.
According to Home Affairs Minister Rohee, his Ministry has put in place systems whereby every Commander, every month, submits an accountability report.
That accountability report is drawn up on the basis of a matrix which tells the Ministry what it needs to know.
“The accountability report of each Commander, it is sent to us through the Commissioner and we analyse and if we’re not satisfied with what we see on it, we send it back. It has things like response time, it has things like the number of traffic accidents, work with the community, domestic violence. All the key and critical areas that are of a sensitive nature to the society have been captured in that matrix,” Rohee explained.
That document is studied by the Ministry of Home Affairs and a response is then sent to the Commissioner of Police with notes on the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of what is contained in it.
He said that if the Commissioner of Police is of the view that the comments received from the Ministry of Home Affairs require sanctions, he can do so.
But this may just be giving lip service to the measures that are necessary to ensure that those directly responsible for the nation’s security are made to answer for any shortcomings that are identified.
At a previous press briefing earlier this year, the Police Commissioner (acting) had said that he had met with his Divisional Commanders and that they were re-strategising to deal with the crime situation.

Since then, Divisions A (Georgetown and its environs) and F (interior) have been locked in a race to see which is the murder (crime) capital of the country.
Both Divisions have been under the same Commanders since Brumell made his remark.
“In the midst of all of this, yet you have an experienced Commander remaining in exile. It is evident that there is a laissez-fair attitude at the command level,” one security expert with prior experience in the Guyana Police Force told this newspaper.
On more than one occasion, Commissioner Brumell had indicated that he had given his Commanders a free hand to manage their Divisions, and they will be held accountable.
But in the current conundrum of the present crime situation it would not be unfair for one to interpret that arrangement in a negative way.
As far as Minister Rohee is aware, the Ministry has never completely rejected an accountability report which would necessitate implementing sanctions against a Commander.
“As far as I can recall we have never rejected in its entirety an accountability report and sent it back to the Commissioner to say we reject it and he must deal with the Commander, no, because there are certain things they do well and there are certain things they are not up to scratch.
“So on balance, there is no way for example you can say that this Commander is not performing well. His division may be performing well in a certain area, and it may not be in another area,” the Minister explained.
It was pointed out that the very Ministry had taken action by instructing Commissioner of Police Leroy Brumell to effect change at the command level in the Linden division during unrest there last year.
However, Rohee explained that was not based on any accountability report. He said that instruction was based on a specific request by the Leader of the Opposition David Granger.
“That was a specific issue where the Leader of the Opposition, having met with the President and assess the situation at Linden, told/requested the President to remove (Commander) Hicken from that place,” Rohee explained.
Meanwhile, there is evidence that the man who holds the direct portfolio for crime in the Guyana Police Force, Seelall Persaud, has been caught between a rock and a hard place.
According to a well placed source within the force, it is apparent that when the Crime Chief brings stringency to bear on the Divisional Commanders, they seek refuge under the protective cloak of other senior officials.
“The bottom line seems to be though that a lot of officers are indifferent to their roles and responsibility in the sense that their attitudes on the job and towards the job do not seem to reflect the seriousness that is required presently,” the source added.

 

 

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