Time is of the essence

Oct 01, 2014 Editorial

A 48-month sentence was recently meted out to a member of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) for his involvement in a shooting incident. Now Adrian Bishop is shot in questionable circumstances, raising questions about the quality of guidance provided to frontline ranks by the police leadership.
The GPF has been in existence for over 175 years, and when compared with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), that entity has not reached the level of institutional development and maturity that the latter has displayed during its 49 years. Incidentally, there is perception that the GDF is more welcoming of civilian expertise than the capacity-challenged GPF. This is perhaps symptomatic of inherent antagonisms in police-civilian relations which are hard to dissolve.
Citizens hear about ranks acting in contravention of standard operational procedures, but nowhere up to this juncture is documentary evidence of clear guidelines governing ethical police behaviour provided. Maybe the time has come to equip the ranks with body and vehicle cameras.
Blaming the frontline ranks for errors of judgment which are sometimes fatal seems to be the panacea. Also questionable is the police operational doctrine when one observes different approaches to public disorder incidents, depending on which sets of disgruntled persons are involved. Citizens may be forgiven for getting the impression that references to dictates of policy are only intended to soothe agitated minds.
Can the premier law enforcement arm of the state point to policies similar to the GDF but formulated based upon the strategic administrative and operational circumstances of the force? It might well be a situation of the force interpreting policy, process and procedure to mean one and the same thing. This observation raises an interesting conundrum with respect to a GPF policy position on a range of issues.
Among the policy areas which impact upon the effective performance of its ranks, and which need to be documented and highlighted, are matters pertaining to welfare issues, career development, training, civilization and health concerns. Apart from the GPF Standing Orders, the Police Act Chapter 16:01 and the Police (Discipline) Act 17:01, not much work appears to have been done to fill gaps and broaden the knowledge base of serving members of the organization. Indeed the distinct impression gained is that people are allowed to carry out their duties in an almost totally discretionary manner, leading to bad judgment calls and legal sanctions when these are unavoidable.
Maybe the indiscretion seen on the part of subordinates should not come as a surprise to anyone. A casual examination of the officer corps within the force will reveal that the senior functionaries are not particularly endowed with leadership qualities. The argument must be made that attendance at tertiary institutions and overseas programmes do not necessarily make good leaders out of people who are products of a system which – for the most part – has been ambivalent about members pursuing higher education. Officers, it should be noted, have a responsibility to promote within themselves and in their ranks, a sustainable interest in self-development. With a few exceptions, senior officers are not equipped for leadership, and would prefer to remain on the streets rather than performing in an administrative capacity.
The GPF administration, if awake to its responsibilities, must do all in its power to demonstrate the kind of actions synonymous with acceptance and ownership of strategic management methods, and not make that process appear as a stand-alone figment of Minister Rohee’s usually fertile imagination.
This column has alluded in the past to the concept of police reform, but no evidence has been presented to convince the populace that the GPF has developed a conceptual framework which embraces a vision for reform. Practical work to implement the strategic plan of the force should not be confused with institutional reform which, as argued before, remains a mirage if the pervasive dysfunctional environment is anything to go by.
Steadfastly maintaining contradictory archaic practices and attitudes while only talking about reform will serve only to frustrate the efforts of those genuinely pushing for a police force that is universally respected. The few policy issues mentioned above are among a host of others which, if addressed in a timely fashion, will truly exemplify reforms in progress. Time is of the essence.

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