Latest update April 28th, 2026 12:30 AM
When the police mock justice
The conduct (or misconduct) of the police force has reached alarming proportions in the country; so much so that it is high time that civil society makes its position known publicly. One corporate citizen donated a set of lights to assist the police in their operations so it is all the more compelling that the private sector step up and condemn police excesses.
This observation is in keeping with the thought that no one can definitively speak to the integrity of the ballistics evidence produced in the recent prosecution and subsequent acquittal of two policemen. The police did the ballistics examination and proffered the results in court. Therefore the arrant nonsense coming from the police hierarchy in casting aspersions on the Director of Public Prosecutions Chambers must be seen for what it is; an unrepentant police force not keen in accepting responsibility for its dismal performance and certainly not keen on reforming its operational and administrative culture.
There is no demonstrated commitment on the part of the police to support the efforts of the Minister of Home Affairs to present a clean police image to the public.
It is hard to imagine that the findings of the ballistics examiner who operates out of the Criminal Investigations Department Headquarters would have been ignored by the Crime Chief and charges laid against the two whose weapons had not fired the fatal shot(s). There is no reason to doubt the facts put forward by the DPP as that official certainly did not have a stake in the matter.
What makes the puerile police statement so much more unacceptable and insulting is that the third rank was not charged but was a witness in the court matter. If this is not the height of stupidity and a blatant display of incompetence then maybe there is need for a new definition. It is reasonable to assume that all weapons would have been tested and the findings contained in the ballistics report.
For a long time citizens and visitors to this country have been wondering daily to what new depths the force can sink and it is always a revelation that there is no limit to their ineptitude. Just the other day the Brickdam police attempted to pervert the course of justice by seeking to have the mother of 15-year old Alex Griffith identify the Cadet Officer who shot the lad in his mouth.
If they had succeeded in getting their way it means that her identification evidence would have been tainted and therefore inadmissible in court because she did not see the actual shooting and would have been subject to the hearsay rule.
What is of serious concern is the possibility that forensic evidence can be manipulated to best serve the interest of the force even to the point of securing convictions. It has happened elsewhere and since we are always pointing to what happens in other places it is only sensible that we in this country examine the potential and opportunity that the local sleuths have to imitate their foreign counterparts.
There have always been doubts in the minds of the more informed in this society that the ballistics evidence conveniently linking notorious criminals to certain crimes were contrived as a matter of expediency and as a way of appeasing the public outcry and pressure from perceived influential groupings. The fact remains that the constant abuse meted out to people by a police force accustomed to implicit official approval of its animalistic behavior is not in a hurry to reform itself no matter who the Commissioner is.
Minister Clement Rohee will not do himself any favours by relaxing on his demands for a professional police force; if anything he has not shown the sternness required in dealing with their continued intransigence in performing to public expectations. This again raises questions about his commitment to see things through outside of political parameters and control.
After all is said and done Clement Rohee is first and foremost a Guyanese and he like everyone else will be affected negatively by an unprofessional police force moreso if his party is voted out of office. We need to ensure that the actions of the police do not reflect governmental approval of a betrayal of public trust.
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