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Officers pledge to resist external pressure in anti-corruption probes – SOCU Advisor
Resisting pressure, such as bribes from external forces in the conduct of corruption allegations is critical, according to United Kingdom Advisor to the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), Dr. Sam Sittlington.
Speaking to Kaieteur News on Friday, following the conclusion of a two week anti-corruption training course for investigative agencies, Sittlington said that the 30 participants have taken a stand against bribery.
“Sometimes, there are things outside of their control by peers, politicians or supervisors or even people that they work with where they are constantly under scrutiny and they are forced to follow the same paths like others. They are determined that they are going to make a difference,” Sittlington stated.
Crime Chief Paul Williams told the attendees that it is sometimes difficult to operate in an environment when they are being told to do the wrong things, knowing what needs to be done based on the training.
In such cases, he encouraged them to share information with their superiors or with someone they trust.
Sittlington explained that the participants will return to their respective agencies and impart the knowledge acquired during the training.
The participants and facilitators of the two-week anti-corruption training funded by the United Kingdom.
“If you ever saw the charter that the participants themselves drew up in relation to how they will deal with corruption in Guyana. It is very aggressive and gives you an idea of how they think,” Dr. Sittlington noted.
The course was sponsored by the United Kingdom Government and focused on fraud and anti-corruption areas of fraud.
Facilitators were 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. Both are from the UK-based SRG Special Projects.
The UK advisor stated that there is need for similar courses at a higher level to include the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), prosecutors and lawyers.
The need for this type of training was emphasised in light of the fact that Guyana is on the cusp of great transformation with the oil and gas sector and Government’s Green State Development Strategy (GSDS).
The government, through the Legal Affairs Ministry, has been conducting Anti-Corruption Sensitisation Seminars across the ten administrative regions.
The training started on April 9 at Police Officers Training Centre, Camp Street. At the opening, British High Commissioner, Greg Quinn, stated that police officers should be booted and jailed once found to be taking bribes.
The first week, participants will concentrate on investigation methods for serious and complex fraud, with the second week on investigation methods for offences and occurrences of bribery and corruption.
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 Criminal investigative Division (CID).
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