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Coping with the crime situation

Dec 01, 2013 Editorial

 

 

A recent letter to the editor by former Assistant Commissioner of Police Clinton Conway should serve to reassure the general public that the Guyana Police Force has strategies to cope with burgeoning crime.  What the more-informed citizens would like to know is whether these strategies been reviewed since their implementation to determine their continued suitability to our local circumstances.
It was refreshing to hear the Minister of Home Affairs at the just concluded National Conference for the Prevention of Interpersonal Violence say that he is willing to listen to “constructive” criticism.  The question which arises is “Who or what determines when a criticism is constructive or otherwise?”  The point here is that one’s perspective will be the determinant of how a piece of criticism is received.
We are told that there are certain negatives associated with CompStat which basically is a leadership and management strategy designed to reduce crime.  We need to know if this is a case where we have adopted an initiative that was designed for the New York Police Department with no real consideration to its relevance to local factors, or has the GPF implemented its version with due regard to the aforementioned concern?
However, whether or not CompStat has been modified, it is recognised that improvement in the performance of a reformed GPF is premised on a strategic approach in consonance with certain desirable and retainable aspects of traditional policing.
The GPF reports its monthly performance statistics to the MoHA and this is where our focus should lie if we are to say without equivocation that we are not simply being inundated with figures in the absence of clear and definitive strategies which inform the results.  In other words it is through the identification and application of strategies that the GPF can demonstrate its competence and effectiveness in achieving performance results that have been determined beforehand.
Another point worth noting is that the personnel dedicated to analyzing performance data must be able to identify whether performance is improving, and advise what new approaches should be considered based upon research on trends and good practices.
The foregoing can be supplanted by regular audits complete with quantitative and qualitative analysis to confirm the accuracy of the Force’s efforts and enhance its image.  One problem which should be mentioned is that the GPF being the rank-conscious organization that it is, makes it virtually impossible for a junior officer to operate in the latter capacity no matter how qualified s/he may be.
This mindset effectively prevents decision-makers from accessing the kind of vital information necessary for the strategic allocation of resources according to specific and immediate operational needs.  There must be a concomitant attitudinal rebirth for the GPF is to implement reforms successfully if it is to be described as a modern police organization.
It is not quite clear at this stage whether the leadership of the GPF understands its role in moving the force forward with a unified philosophy.  Is everyone singing from the same score sheet?  At public forums we sometimes get the impression that not all is well at the top levels; that there is a schism and not all the players have briefed themselves on the appropriateness and oneness of approach to issues of concern to the public.  This is played out in a not so subtle game of one-upmanship.
At the risk of engendering a vitriolic reaction we would like to state that citizens deserve to know that their safety is guaranteed by vision of an organization not subject to the whims of personal preference and power seeking.  In other places it has been seen that strategic gains with respect to reforms have been eroded when an incoming leader’s unfounded philosophy collides with a progressive policy framework, and we should not see the GPF as exempt in that regard.
We should therefore consider whether we can afford any such slippage.  Citizens need to hear much more contributions from former police officers who may have their own viewpoints to offer.

 

 

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