MODERN TECHNIQUES NEEDED

Jan 14, 2016 Editorial, Features / Columnists

The society in which the Guyana Police Force exists and functions has changed over the past few years. It has presented certain challenges in terms of training, crime-solving and the type of people it can recruit.
Today, most of the criminals are more dangerous and armed than members of the Police Force. Many do not respect the sanctity of life and will rob and kill innocent citizens at random. Guyana is still the predominantly low-income agrarian society it once was, where occupations like police officers would be seen as an avenue to escape from poverty and move up in status in society.
But the relatively higher paying civil service salary and promises of advancement for ambitious young men or women have made it difficult for the force to recruit skilled and qualified persons.
Society has become more advanced through technology. The reality is society’s values have changed due largely to a decline in regard for traditional social institutions such as the Police Force.
The result is that people have gravitated to lawless and reckless behavior. The perception that many police officers are corrupt, brutal and often generally unprofessional, has helped fuel the lawlessness. And there are police ranks who aid this perception by their general behaviour.
There are many rogue cops who have given the entire force a bad name. It is now up to the officers to change such negative perception of the force.
Despite its tarnished reputation, the Police Force still attracts a level of respect and admiration from the public that continues to influence and encourage many young aspirants to join. So even with its low salary scale and the perception that the force is a tainted institution, yet it continues to be inundated with thousands of applications from all across the country at each recruitment cycle.
And this is because of the work that the force’s administration has been doing to change the image.
It is crucial for the force to revamp its image; become a highly professional and impartial institution equipped with the skills and tools to solve crime in the modern era. The force must set high standards in terms of what it expects from its law enforcement officers.
It must maintain decorum and this, hopefully, will flow outward to the communities as its ranks execute their duties impartially and without fear or favour.
The Government must demonstrate that it regards the Police Force as a very important and special organization. In fact, the relationship between the administration and the police has never been better. And this is due to more than the renovation of buildings, establishing more out-posts or having joint patrols with the army. It has had to do with a policy of non-interference.
In these difficult times when more is demanded of the Police, it must only recruit persons with a certain quality or caliber. And for its push to change how people view it, the Police Force must be paid decent wages so that the Force can attract skilled and qualified personnel. This will improve its image and help it to regain even more of the trust of the people.
It must be given the appropriate tools and training to combat crime and to recapture the glimmer it has lost over the years.
It cannot be disputed that the force continues to do a superb job fighting crime and keeping the population safe. It has captured many hard-core criminals, disbanded many gangs and has maintained stability and orderliness in society.
It is working; it is changing with the times. It has moved away from the days when it sought to be more violent that the criminals. It now has a human face. How else will it attract people from the society?

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MODERN TECHNIQUES NEEDED

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