Despite talk of reform, police investigative tactics have not changed – Felix

Apr 03, 2014 News

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-slams govt. for not prioritizing security   

Eight years after he retired as head of the Guyana Police Force, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament Winston Felix says he sees no change in the main civilian law enforcement body.
In his presentation during the 2014 Budget Debates, Felix told the National Assembly that despite Government’s boast of spending millions to reform the Guyana Police Force, “there is still much of the same.”

The former Commissioner of Police was referring directly to the Force’s lack of capacity to effectively investigate matters without the use of force or more specifically, torture.
“When the investigators cannot solve a crime, we eventually hear of allegations of brutality or torture,” Felix stated.
He reminded his fellow Parliamentarians about the highly publicized torture of teenager Tywon Thomas, who had his private parts burnt by police investigators, and more recently, in the midst of the police reform process, there was the “despicable Colwyn Harding case”.
Felix also reminded about the spike in armed robberies occurring on the Corentyne during the last quarter of 2013 when five families were attacked.
This had sparked complaints from residents about police indifference to their reports.
The former Top Cop slammed this year’s Budget allocation to the Guyana Police Force, saying that it was inadequate for the country’s principal law enforcement agency, which is tasked with wide responsibilities to provide protection for life and property, the maintenance of law and order, the preservation of the peace and the repression of internal disturbance.
He recalled a presentation by the Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee in the latter part of 2011, when he told the nation that based on recommendations by the Capita Symonds Group, the Force would undergo reform in the areas of administration, succession planning, probity/integrity, public relations and communications, among other areas.
But according to Felix, the areas mentioned was poorly thought out as they do not deal with the core issues affecting the police delivery of an efficient service to the public, and it explains why at this point there is no discernable change in the performance of the police.
“For any quick impact on performance, the Government ought to have followed the recommendations of earlier work produced in the Security Sector Action Reform Project (SSRP),” he said.
The SSRP was designed to address nine key areas. These include crime intelligence; anti crime unit, forensic laboratory; traffic management; strategic review of the GPF; community police relations; police accountability and transparency and national security policy, management and legal framework.
Felix told the Assembly that he is certain that the future of the Guyana Police Force would have been well served with the implementation of the recommendations of the SSRP.
He said that he had noted Minister Rohee’s remarks about the “unwarranted” criticisms of the recently SWAT team, a unit which Felix had been against from the outset.
“I must enquire again of the Minister whether he is ever present when members of the GPF are allegedly uncouth to members of the public, brutalise and torture members of the public, fail to attend to reports promptly and efficiently, do not investigate crime efficiently or are either absent from court or fail to summon witnesses to testify,” Felix said.
He added, “Members of the public are fed up and disgusted by the failure of the police to prosecute their mandate and bring justice to those offended…”
Despite the Government allocating $19.5 billion for public safety and security, Felix said that the 2014 Budget did not adequately cater for the needs of the Joint Services.
“The Joint Services, which the Government relies on to provide safety and security for the people of this country, must suffer another year with no improvement in their emoluments and consequently no improvement in their lifestyles,”  Felix said.
Felix was part of a team from APNU, which had met with Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Brigadier Mark Phillips and pledged support for budget allocation to assist the security forces to carry out its mandate.
However, from all indications, the allocations have not met APNU’s expectations.
Felix went on to state that the very important function of the Guyana Defence Force in the country’s national security architecture makes them available for national defence and to support law enforcement in areas such as narco trafficking and piracy.
To this end, Felix urged Government to ensure that the GDF is adequately resourced to execute its mandate without being sacrificed at the altar of expediency for specious capital projects.
“The Government has simply said to us, “not a cent more, we have to build a modern 8-gate airport terminal building, Amaila Falls hydro project and provide subsidies to those inefficiently run institutions. Those we will take care of first, you must wait your turn”, whenever that comes,” Felix noted.
He also took a swipe at the treatment meted out to the other Joint Services entities.
“Their allowances are horribly low in the face of the high cost of rent/mortgage, light bill, which is unstable, telephone and water bills. These are the very people who must put their lives on the line to prevent and detect crime, control traffic on the streets, confront armed and dangerous criminals, fight fires and maintain security of those who are confined by sentence of a court to a correctional institution,” Felix said in his Budget debate presentation.

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