The Police Force must expose those accountable for its failings

Oct 02, 2013 Editorial

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) needs to take stock of its inability to solve many serious crimes, and then move quickly, forcefully and publicly to root out the underlying causes. In recent years, the Force has exhibited abundant weaknesses, but none so glaring as the failure to capture several of the most brazen and dangerous criminals in our midst.
Very often, the perpetrators of serious crimes cannot even be identified, which makes it impossible to apprehend them and bring them to justice. This has significantly destabilised the security of our society and is severely undermining the public’s confidence in the police.
Of all serious crimes (which have seen a 6% rise as at the end of August), murder is one of the most reprehensible in the public’s consciousness. The people of Guyana are anxious about the soaring murder rate and they expect the police to curtail this. But what they find even more alarming is the astounding number of unsolved murders.
Police records for the first eight months of this year show that eighty-five (85) murders were recorded (a 4% increase when compared to last year), and of course, last month saw many more lives being snuffed out. We reiterate that it is the unsolved murders that slowly erode the confidence of the citizens in law enforcement. The obvious failure rate is totally unacceptable, especially because it is common knowledge that the passage of time increases the difficulty of solving crimes. It is quite startling to know that so many unknown killers are walking around free, putting us all at risk. This situation points to severe weaknesses in every aspect of police operations, which must be addressed immediately and effectively.
The Police Force is the primary line of protection and security for Guyanese citizens. We cannot expect the Force to perform well if it continues to be understaffed, is poorly equipped, and the ranks are inadequately trained.
The police deserve the full support and cooperation of the government and of all citizens in the execution of their responsibilities. This clearly requires a no-holds-barred approach to upgrading the institution.
The relative slothfulness of the campaign to upgrade and modernise the GPF, has negatively affected the current relationship between a number of vulnerable communities and the police. Common problems in the relationship include; a lack of trust, racial and cultural differences, and high levels of anger, fear and hostility against the police. This hostile relationship discourages open communication between police and communities, which impedes investigations, and invariably leads to a high number of unsolved crimes. Undoubtedly, the latter breeds further frustration and bitterness on the part of both the police and communities. In this negative relationship, public order is unnecessarily threatened, along with the safety of officers and citizens.
The police cannot improve their methods or record, unless the government and citizens give them the scope to upgrade their operations. This means increasing the number of police recruits, upgrading and expanding police training and re-training programmes. This also means providing upgraded training, locally and internationally, for junior and senior police officers in vital areas like criminal investigation, forensic, ballistic and crime scene investigation techniques.
It has been nine months since Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee unveiled the new security reform plan. There has been a lot of fanfare and boasting about the successful progress of the Security Sector Strategic Plan 2013-2017. But unfortunately, it all makes an about turn, as the systems do not seem designed to cater for the existing conditions.
A simple look, for instance, at the exterior of the Brickdam Station’s Barrack Room, tells a story of total disrespect for our men and women in those uniforms. And then there is the stifling of qualified ranks. What about the meagre salaries?
As the Guyana Police Force limps along, arguably without the means to work properly, perhaps the Home Affairs Minister, Police Commissioner and senior ranks, should frankly explain why it is taking so long for the upgrade and modernisation of the Force to take any significant effect.
We humbly suggest that the best way to root out the underlying causes may be to faithfully and diligently, without fear of or favour to any person, expose those who are accountable for the failings.

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The Police Force must expose those accountable for its failings

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