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UK envoy talks tough on corrupt police, security officials – as related course gets underway
Commissioner of Police (Ag) Mr. David Ramnarine, Vice President and Minister of Public Security Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Mr. Basil Williams SC, Advisor/Mentor to SOCU Dr. Sam Sittlington, British High Commissioner H.E. Greg Quinn and Trainers Mr. Tony Crampton and Mark Dilliway.
Corrupt security officials, including police ranks, should be booted and jailed if necessary once found to be taking bribes.
British High Commissioner, Greg Quinn, made this among other remarks yesterday at the opening of a Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Course at the Police Officers Training Centre, Camp Street.
According to Quinn, all of the participants on the course are in the frontline of work to counter bribery, fraud and corruption.
“But with that position comes responsibility. Along with their colleagues who are not here today they will all be held to the highest levels of probity,” Quinn stressed. He said that it is therefore incumbent on each member of the security agencies to fulfill their tasks to the highest of standards.
“Not only is it the right thing to do, but as the funders of this (and other) training, it is what the British Government expects. There is no place for corruption within the security agencies in Guyana. If individuals cannot work with honesty and integrity then they should be drummed out, prosecuted and imprisoned as necessary.”
Quinn said that if people don’t like the sound of that then it is hard for security agencies to expect respect and cooperation from the public if they themselves are not willing to operate within (and be subject to) the law.“All of you here today can and must set the example.”
The course started yesterday and will run over the next two weeks. It will provide an introduction to investigating serious and complex fraud, bribery and corruption cases.
The first week, according to the High Commissioner, will concentrate on investigation methods for serious and complex fraud, with next week the focus being on investigation methods for offences and occurrences of bribery and corruption.
Running the course are Tony Crampton – who has over 30 years of experience of serious and organised crime and fraud as a member of the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police – and Mark Dilliway, also with over 30 years in the City of London Police, and who has spent the last years of his career also working on economic crime and fraud.
Participating in the course are participants from the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU); State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA); Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU); Financial Intelligence Unit and CID Fraud.
Participants of the various security agencies at the start of the training yesterday.
“This (course) will include an examination of major fraud and bribery case scenarios designed to allow all participants to put into practice what they are learning. As I hope has been clear over the past months and years, the UK is committed to supporting Guyana in Security Sector Reform. Today is but the latest example of our work in that area and builds on work already undertaken including under the auspices of Russell Combe,” the High Commissioner emphasised.
Russell Combe will be returning to Guyana this week for a further one-year appointment as Security Sector Reform Advisor to President David Granger.
Present also at the forum yesterday were Vice President and Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan; Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams SC; Commissioner of Police (Ag), David Ramnarine and Advisor/Mentor to SOCU, Dr. Sam Sittlington.
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