Police reshuffle Divisional Commanders and their Deputies

Sep 16, 2013 News

In an apparent move to strengthen its Divisional command structure in the face of rising crime, the Guyana Police Force has effected some strategic changes with immediate effect.

Errol Watts

Clifton Hicken

Starting today, the Commanders of the police East Coast and West Demerara have swapped places, while there has also been some reshuffling of their Deputies.
The moves come days after this newspaper highlighted the possible sanctions against Divisional Commanders for runaway crime in their Divisions.
However, it is not clear if the moves are a direct reaction to the current crime situation.
Reliable inside sources have confirmed that Assistant Commissioner Christopher Griffith, who had previously headed the West Demerara Division, will swap places with his counterpart, Eric Bassant, who was the Commander of the police East Coast Demerara Division.
Bassant will be backed up by the well known Senior Superintendent Clifton Hicken, who was previously serving in Berbice.
Well placed sources in the force have indicated that it is expected that Hicken, who was once the commander of the E&F division before he was removed following the Linden debacle last year, will provide good support to Bassant, to keep crime in check on the west coast following last week’s high profile robbery which left shopkeeper Zulfikar Namdar dead.
Hicken replaces the controversial Superintendent Errol Watts, who has been sent to Police Headquarters to work on a special project.
Superintendent Stephen Mansell, who was the Second in Command on the East Coast, is back in Berbice supporting Assistant Commissioner Brian Joseph.
Assistant Commissioner Derrick Josiah remains in A Division, while Senior Superintendents Owen Trotz and Courtney Ramsey remain in place at E and F Divisions respectively.
There is still no place at the command level for former Commander David Ramnarine, who remains at the Department of Development, following his expose on the police elections budget.
Judging from recent sentiments expressed by Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, Divisional Commanders are being held accountable for what obtains in their divisions and sanctions 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.

3 thoughts on “Police reshuffle Divisional Commanders and their Deputies”

Cudjoe September 16, 2013 at 6:33 am

A like Hicken a lot. He is a no nonesense man. Good to move him up.
Cockspur September 16, 2013 at 10:38 am

Musical chairs while the people continue to suffer under Rohee’s incompetence.

APNU needs to launch another no confidence in this fool.
guyman04 September 16, 2013 at 4:55 pm

reshuffling the same old pack of cards will not make you win the game its old and marked move the old bend up mark pack [commanders]and bring in a new set of cards [second in command]give them a chance to shine the commanders got fat and lazy on the job.