Home Affairs Ministry defends work of police civilian reform team

Dec 04, 2014 News

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The Ministry of Home Affairs has once again come out in defence of the civilian-composed strategic management

department (SMD) in what appears to be its strained relationship with the Guyana Police Force.
The SMD is overseeing the implementation of the Guyana Police Force’s five year strategic plan geared towards reforming the law enforcement body.
In a well worded statement, the ministry appears to be putting blame of the Force itself for its lack of cohesion with its civilian counterpart in the reform process.
The statement comes in the wake of frequent questions related to the work of the SMD within the Guyana Police Force, questions that have been noted by the Ministry as coming from “certain misinformed positions taken by misguided sections of the media.”
According to the Ministry, since the establishment of the SMD, several interventions have been made which would lead to positive change in the way the Police Force operates.
However, the Ministry noted that these interventions will be in vain and doomed to failure in the absence of ownership and the demonstrated commitment of the entire process on the part of the GPF.
“MoHA recognizes that any institution steeped in a certain operational mode, will sometimes quite unwittingly display signs of resistance at influential levels. In the case of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) although reforms are in themselves desirable, care must be taken that our expectations of a quick fix do not take root in unrealistic ways.  Results will not come overnight,” the Ministry of Home Affairs stated.
In its explanation of the reform process, the Ministry said that this was determined to be of major importance for the effective performance of the organization particularly in the area of its community relations.
To this end a Strategic Management Department was established as the primary technical driver for the implementation

of the Force’s five-year strategic plan.
The Ministry of Home Affairs said that it is concerned with the state of police-community relations and the complaints which are made about police misconduct.
“It is in that context that the police reforms should be seen in terms of the general and specific objectives of the strategic plan,” the Ministry stated.
“It should not be forgotten that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) in its 175 years of existence has never undertaken a task of such complexity and magnitude. Therefore, the mere formulation of a forward-looking document which addresses both operational efficiency and organizational cultural reforms is not only a step in the right direction, but is an indication of a commitment on the part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) dedicated to bringing the Guyana Police Force (GPF) in line with modern police forces globally,” the Ministry added.
It pointed out that the SMD has done assessments and submitted proposals in pursuit of the objectives of the plan, and have been providing technical assistance in the development of action plans in this regard.
The Ministry said that it appreciates the combined efforts of all the players actively involved in this initiative.
Principal among the major interventions in that regard has been the recent commissioning of a Management Audit of the SMD.
According to the Ministry, arising from the findings of that review, seven recommendations were made which will assist in enhancing the work of the department.  These recommendations have since been communicated to the Guyana Police Force for their implementation which will be monitored by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
“At Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) we are satisfied that some work has been done and others are ongoing with reform and modernization as the focal issues.  Among the initiatives which are proposed in the short term are (i) a Multi Stakeholder Forum; and (ii) a Citizen Perception Survey. It is hoped that both of these mechanisms among others, will inform a better understanding of the perceptions, expectations and potential contributions that stakeholders can provide to the police in fulfilling their constitutional mandate in serving and protecting our people,” the ministry said.
At the same time citizens and the Ministry of Home Affairs quite rightly expect that the Guyana Police Force will take all reasonable steps to address the contentious issues of serious crime rates, road traffic safety, police misconduct, domestic violence, and others which impact negatively on the society.
The Ministry said it will continue to support all efforts at reforming the Guyana Police Force for the benefit of all Guyana.

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