Character assessment should form part of police recruitment

Jul 02, 2021 Peeping Tom

---

Kaieteur News – The Guyana Police Force is facing a crisis on three-fronts. The main Opposition APNU+AFC is manufacturing concerns which will only serve to demoralise the Force and result in greater disrespect shown to its members.
Already there is a crisis. Some members of the public are resisting arrest by the police and in some instances are assaulting ranks. And on the third front, some ranks are bringing the Force into disrepute by the abuse of their powers.
The APNU+AFC has launched scathing criticisms of the Guyana Police Force. They have charged that the Force is being ‘weaponised’ against citizens who oppose them. The APNU+AFC is playing silly politics and behaving as if its leaders are immune from being investigated, arrested or charged. But it was this same Police Force which the APNU+AFC let loose against leaders of the PPP/C. Now that the shoe is on the other, the APNU+AFC is crying “wolf!”
In recent times also, police ranks attempting to effect arrests, have come under attack by civilians. In one case, a traffic rank was chased by a cutlass-wielding minibus operator. In another case, a woman was seen removing a police barrier and every time the police put it back in place, she removed it while all the time hurling abuse at the ranks. In yet another incident, a rank was assaulted by a soldier.
These incidents have been occurring with increasing regularity. They suggest that there is gross disrespect for the police and this is responsible for the high-level of resistance, which the members of the Force are facing when effecting arrests.
But all is not well within the Force. As two recent incidents demonstrate, there are rogue elements within the Force who are prepared to abuse their powers.
In the first incident, a man was lashed with an object by a rank. In the other incident, an arrested and drunk individual had his feet shackled and then pulled from underneath him, and then dragged into a cell like a piece of carcass.
These latter incidents should not be treated as isolated events. They are indicative of a problem, which has become endemic in the force: abuse of power.
And the problem goes right back to the selection of persons who are recruited into the Force and for which insufficient background and psychological tests have been undertaken. There are persons within the Guyana Police Force who should never have been inducted into its ranks because you cannot place power over others into irresponsible and reckless hands. Once this is done, there will be abuse of authority.
The Guyana Police Force needs to consider carefully its recruitment policies. It is important that as part of its recruitment that the police undertake detailed background checks on its applicants. It should do so to guard against the wrong elements being employed.
But background checks are not sufficient. Recruits need to undergo details psychological and character assessments to ensure that they can be entrusted with the powers, which come with policing.
A great many police ranks have serious attitude problems. Some of them speak to the members of the public as they wish and when they are asked simple questions, they are insolent and abusive. Many of them feel that no one should dare question them and they can do as they please.
This problem with attitude cannot be fixed through training. Such persons should never have entered the Force in the first place. The fact that they were able to gain employment is proof enough of the need for a revamping of the Force’s recruitment policies.
The police need to take firm but lawful action to prevent and stop the disrespect which is being shown to them by some members of the public. If the police arrest you, then you have a duty to go with them to the station, not to resist arrest. Often when persons resist arrest, the police are forced to use force and this leads to all manner of protests against the police. However, the police in turn have a duty to inform persons of the offence for which they are being arrested.
But while it is true that the police are at present being unfairly targeted, the Force has elements who are bringing the Force into disrepute. These persons should never have been employed within the Force. If the attitude is not right, the conduct will be wrong.
The public is waiting to see what is going to be the outcome of those two incidents in which ranks were seen abusing their authority. If nothing comes of these cases, then the police would have taken a backward step in trying to ensure that it regains the confidence of the public.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

---

---