Guyana Police Force on life support

Jun 27, 2021 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

Kindly permit me space to ventilate on a matter of great importance to me in particular and Guyana in general. It’s the state of disaster that is suffocating the Guyana Police Force currently. The force has become a politically directed and administered organisation. Police are being asked to be loyal to the government and not the constitution and laws of the land.
The command structure of the organisation has been in disarray for many years with wholly unqualified people managing departments where they are less than assets to the force. There may be currently 10-15 senior officers in the force worthy of their command. Many hold open allegiance to political organisations. This is a problem. You are indeed entitled to your political views and opinions, but you are not at will to allow your politics to influence the manner in which you conduct yourself professionally. The police force because of poor leadership and political shenanigans continues to degenerate into chaos. It used to be that there was strict adherence to the organisational chart, which lays out the chain of command. The force was headed up by the Commissioner, four Deputy Commissioners, Admin, CID, SB, Ops. Today we have no such organisation. Instead, we have junior officers being reported to by people their senior in rank, all because their placement was politically instituted.
We always hear about that young cop who takes a bribe, but we know nothing about those very senior officers known to be involved in corrupt transactions. Many have been departmentally charged for these activities, but their matters lie in a file gathering dust. How can you have disciplined junior ranks when you have dirty senior officers? Whose fault is it when a constable fails to attend court in a matter that gets dismissed because he absented himself from court? Here’s an example of the dysfunction of the force. It’s against the law to have tinted or heavily tinted windshields and windows, but some of the darkest tints can be found on young policemen’s cars. Do they not have Sergeants, Inspectors, etc.? To my knowledge, there’s only one senior officer who’s had a zero-tolerance attitude towards police driving heavily tinted cars.
Victimisation in the force is now part and parcel with the job. If you’re perceived rightly or wrongly, to be in support of some other political group other than the government, then you get shunted to the side. One of the brightest young officers in the force was removed from his post and sent to manage the equine assets of the force, while one who has disciplinary matters was made the head of the premier white collar crime fighting unit all because politicians got involved. Old police talk that said, this wuk is a look back wuk. Meaning if you were able to observe what others, senior to you, did and how they did it, then you should have no problems doing your job. If the current crop of police would take a look back into the past and note how this job is supposed to be done, then Guyanese would be better off.
The entire force could learn from the great men and women, who came before them. I think there is no better example than Balram Raghubir of how a Commissioner of Police should comport himself in private and public. There’s no better handler of men than Cecil Roberts so why not set your standards against his? So why can’t officers who aim to be leaders of men use men like Alvin Smith and Isaac Alexander as a barometer of honesty and integrity? I maintain politicians have no desire to have a disciplined and professional police department, because the chaos that ensues from a disorganised and poorly led force is perfect for their own nefarious reasons. Some small steps were taken during the tenure of the last government but not nearly enough. For example, there are hundreds of well-trained and capable retired officers, who would love to impart their knowledge to the young members, but they are never called.
One of the greatest homicide investigators in the history of the Guyana Police Force is Michael Marks and I am positive he was never approached for any advice in the last 15 years. Mind you, there are countless unsolved murders still waiting to be concluded by arrest and successful prosecution. I share the same view of a now retired detective superintendent that the force is now unrecognisable to us who served during a different period. To the ranks, I say this. Be reminded, that you serve the constitution of Guyana, and not any particular political group. Politicians come and go, but police are constant. Do the job. It is your right to refuse any illegal order. Respect your obligations to the courts. Before I go, I must address the baseless claims that there is racial discrimination in the selection of applicants to the force. That is hogwash, and it boggles the mind why anyone would believe it. If an advertisement is published in all newspapers in Guyana tomorrow for applicants to the force, the percentage of such applicants who are not of African descent would be negligible. It’s sad that politicians would say these things in private let alone publicly. I thank you for this opportunity to express my disillusionment.

Yours truly,
Richard A. Dickson
Former Homicide Investigator – GPF

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