Time to address sexual misconduct within the Guyana Police Force

Sep 21, 2015 Letters

Dear Editor,
Call me bold for calling out representatives of the long arm of the law: those who have sworn to protect and serve and those who we can’t detect. Based on the current situation it is apparent to even the most faith –filled Christian that God on his coming again should make Guyana his first place of call. Right there snuggled within all the violence is one that we rarely talk about—sexual misconduct within the Police Force.
This has been a persistent ongoing problem, the presence of as many sexual predators roaming the streets as they are within the police department. The truth be told, the Police, The Ministry of Public Security and by extension the Government has failed to address through the criminal lens both the immediate and long term emotional and physical effects of sexual misconduct among police officers on one of their own.
These subtler sexual abuses of power have for far too long been overlooked by criminal law, and the time is at hand for the behavior to be treated as criminal conduct within a subcategory of sexual offenses. Sexual acts of an unwarranted nature are harmful and painful to the victims, especially the victims whose submission is induced by abuse of power.
There are some common features that bear out the fact that the harms sustained by all victims of unwanted and non-consensual sex are, in fact, comparable and in combination with the wrongful conduct of the perpetrator support my justification for criminalizing these cases. Even more shocking is the revelation that sexual impropriety such as the one displayed by the assistant Superintendent at Lethem against the young Constable has been for far too long the seeming norm within the Police Force, with the victims even being new recruits.
The Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan in 2013 hinted at the use of body cameras as a means of combating this sexual demon that has been plaguing the force for innumerable years. My advice to the Minister is that any likely money, especially in cash strapped present day Guyana that would be spent on body cameras, be held and instead rechanneled towards a more profitable venture.
Individuals who have become policemen are sworn to honorable and competent public service and should demonstrate high standards of personal and procedural integrity, but among the ranks there are also contaminants who fail to maintain these levels of honesty.
Nevertheless, we cannot afford to overlook the complexity of policing and its relationship with the context in which it operates as the police are direct instruments of government policy and extensions of ministerial authority. A poignant question warranting some degree of immediate reflection and consideration refers to the manner in which previous complaints of intra-ranks sexual misconduct were handled?
How were these complaints resolved? Did the punishment received fit the crime perpetrated? Were there any efforts made to ascertain the possibility of other victims who may be hesitant/ reluctant in coming forward due to possible retaliation? Is there an agency that deals with sexual abuse within the ranks?
In 2014, the then President Donald Ramotar, during his address at the Police Officers Conference, hinted at the possibility of integrity tests for policemen, as a means of ensuring that the Force that is empowered to ensure our safety from criminals is free from such elements.
Wishful thinking! Prayerful Hoping! In February 2012, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee had also hinted at the institution of lie detector tests for the entire Police Force. This would be in addition to several other proposals that he opined would hopefully bring about a new posture of the Police Force. It is apparent that even in the previous government the way forward was questionable.
On a conclusive note, a profound radical change in policing must take place now, before the police continue to take sexual advantage and intimidate the females alongside whom they are supposed to serve. Protect & Serve should be the battle cry for the female cops to Detect the Perves. Delay is dangerous. No longer can the Police Commission wait on lie detector tests or integrity tests to ascertain the character of the male members of the force but should instead consider seeking remedial measures in the administration of anti-libidinal suppressants for likely perpetrators.
Yvonne Sam

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Time to address sexual misconduct within the Guyana Police Force

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