The Guyana Police Force engagement with residents of Tiger Bay was encouraging

Sep 01, 2020 Letters

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Dear Editor,

I recently perused an article in the press under the heading, “Focus returns to Tiger Bay.” The missive reported on a visit paid to Tiger Bay, sorry, Rosemary Lane, by officers at the apex of management of the Guyana Police Force: Clifton Hicken, Assistant Commissioner Operations; Royston Andries Junior, Assistant Commissioner, Police Public Relations and Press Officer; and Simon Mc Bean, Assistant Commissioner, Commander Region 4 (a). It was pleasing to note such high-ranking members of the Guyana Police Force visiting a depressed community. It was so nice to observe in this virtual time so many police boots of various sizes and high quality literally pounding the beat at Rosemary Lane.
According to Dr. Kissoon of the Ministry of Health who was a member of the visiting party, his reason for visiting was to let the persons within the community understand the importance of wearing of masks, washing hands and practising social distancing to stop the spread of COVD-19. From the photograph in the news paper all had on their masks. The police also dealt with many issues and concerns affecting the residents and promised to return to that location shortly for further interactions with them. The senior lawmen abandoned the traditional bird’s eye view that let them see everything from above, from the sky. Instead, during the visit the trio assumed a worm’s eye view of things, trying to find whatever comes right in front of them – smell it, touch it, feel it and see if they can do something about it.
Positive activities between the police and residents of Rosemary Lane, particularly, with the youths is nothing new. It peaked when Laurie Lewis was the Commissioner of Police. However, over the past few years, due to diverse reasons, activities declined and almost flattened. Apparently, an attempt is now being made to raise the level of activity between the police and members of that neglected community.
One tool to help law enforcement tackle crime through problem solving is what Cohen and Felson theorised as the Crime Triangle. It sits on three legs: The victim, the suspect and the location. Crime is presumed amenable to supression if any of the three legs of the triangle is removed or neurtralized. In the crime triangle, location is a critical element in reducing crime and the fear of crime. At numerous locations there are many issues operating that are causing crime to flourish. They may be political, economical social, technogical, legal and environmental (PESTLE). Unless the PESTLE is adequately addressed crime will boom.
Many law enforcement agencies pay most attention to the suspects, less to the victims, while the locations are left almost untouched. Braiden (1998) recommended another way to view the significance of location – ” the hunt and the habitat: ” ‘ I can’t think of two special – interest groups more philosophically opposed to each other than hunters and animal rights activists, yet there are two things they totally agree upon: the species will survive the hunt, it will not survive the lost of its habitat.
What can policing learn from this basic principle of nature? Well if the basic principle is to eliminate the criminal specie forever, surely the best way to do that is to eliminate the habitat that spawns and sustains that species. Structured as it is, the criminal justice system puts 95 percent of its resources into the hunt while the habitat is left almost untouched. We can never win working that way, because the habitat never stops supplying new customers for the hunt.
The challenges faced by the police are numerous. They defy any one-shot solution. The police cannot solve crime alone. Rules without relationship lead to rebellion. The police must establish and sustain effective partnerships with members in the communities they swore to serve and protect. Sustainability must be the watchword. In fact, working in partnership with members of the communities is enshrined in the mission statement of the Guyana Police Force. Activities by the police like the one alluded to above must be replicated and sustained in all the police divisions. It is called Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving (COPPS ). The police are not only required to solve crimes but to work in tandem with members of the community to identify problems therein and find solutions to them. It is not a project, it is not a programme, it is a culture. It must be a constant work in progress. It will promote trust and cater for grater public confidence in the police. It will empower the police to be proactive rather than reactive, thus enabling them to do more intelligence-led policing. Green shoots will emerge. They will be fruitful. However, in this COVID-19 era the police in their community relations activities must ensure that they and those they interact with protect themselves with their PPE and adhere to other recommendations or they will be in violation of Emergency Measures.
Stephen R Covey in his book, “The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness” posited that managers, leaders and organisations must move from effectiveness to greatness. I pray that God will inspire the police to move from effectiveness to greatness. You cannot do policing without God. So it was in the beginning, so shall it be in the end. I recommend Covey’s book as a must read for all police officers.

Yours faithfully,
Clinton Conway
Assistant Commissioner of Police (retired)

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