The spotlight on the police

Feb 20, 2020 Editorial

Developments involving the Guyana Police Force come in trickles and are almost lost in the rush of events and the current all-consuming elections obsessions. Rarely do preoccupied citizens take the time to pause and assess what this means, when these positives and uplifting reports surface in the media of situations, other than the usual sleaze and the failures that result.
Recently, there was the cracking of a gang operating in and haunting the Belle View West area, through tracking all the way to the mastermind using “junkies” to rob neighbourhood residents. Then, in quick order, the police were on the case for the crime committed at the “well-peopled” Giftland Mall, with arrests and matters pending.
Next, in the still evolving Gary Best-Jude Bentley accident and tragedy, the police have conducted itself in this closely watched set of circumstances carefully and with regard to openness, professionalism, and a declaration to do the right thing.
Then, there was in the news the story of the dark side of Guyana: of the discovery of an illegal submachine gun, the regular compromising cash routines that followed and, this is the key, the detecting and revealing the efforts that sought to betray justice.
Add a few other high-profile crime situations closed out at the law enforcement level and placed before the courts and, in aggregate, they are representative of dogged and determined work, the results of which are slowly beginning to show.
Another submachine gun in Berbice seized, and an alleged child molester was held applying for police clearance. In the past, these police situations would be fixed out of sight and injustice prevailed.
Amidst the skepticisms, suspicions, and sorry reputations of the Guyana Police Force, there is cause for faint wisps of hope. With more such positive developments, there follows a shift in attitudes and perceptions long held over the members of the police and their actions.
Given time and continuing encouraging results from the GPF, the shifts could grow into the substantial, as to how this most vital of national presences is viewed by ordinary members of the longsuffering public.
Before anyone gets carried away at this time, we insist on the guarded optimism that is prompted by the realities of life in Guyana. It is of how major planks in our national economy have been compromised and sold down the drain to those who are prepared to outbid all comers to get their criminal ways, which translate to sabotaging the well-intended policies, procedures, and objectives of the police.
It is also of how many of our public servants have been fatally infiltrated and wounded to the detriment of good governance and a well-regarded cohort of patriots doing their duty; of how everything and everyone are considered to be up for sale, and those that will not sell are either setup or diminished for getting in the way and impeding the tainted bartering culture that is so prevalent.
These are some of the bone deep ingredients that have hurt the Guyana Police Force. Despite the best efforts of its lone rangers seeking to introduce what is right and progressive, the heavy tide of negative overhangs have been overwhelming.
It can look to us on the outside like a losing battle, yet this is one that cannot be surrendered without a fight to the very end, since so much of what is enhancing and comforting for the peoples of this nation is involved.
So, the struggle for the soul of the GPF continues on the inside, and where every glimmer of the positive–regardless of how minute it may be–should count for something before the fair-minded and those who desire ardently to see the GPF do well.
Because when the management and members throughout the many tiers of the Guyana Police Force do well, then the citizens of this country are the better for it. That is our position and, hence, it is why we look forward to reporting on the positives, even as we are compelled to call out the negatives, if only to bring about the changes so desperately needed.

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