Selecting the next Commissioner of Police

Jul 07, 2021 Letters

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Dear Editor,

As a concerned citizen of Guyana and a former member of the Guyana Police Force, I’d like to espouse my thoughts on how I believe the next commissioner should be selected and appointed. Kindly indulge me for a little while.
Whoever is the president of the day and the leader of the opposition must get together with individual lists of potential candidates they approve of, along with the reasons for the selection. The two leaders must agree that they are selecting a Commissioner of Police (CoP) who will be sworn to be loyal to the constitution and not a government. Or for that matter a political party. Having done that, the next thing is to amalgamate the two lists and by way of careful consideration and proper investigation, arrive at a short list of half the original number of candidates. The parties would then add two other names to their individual lists of candidates. One for each party. This is to give them a chance to add a suitable candidate who might not have made the original lists, but with a better understanding of what their opposite number is looking for in a commissioner. There ought to be no compromise as it relates to the personal integrity and honesty of candidates. None of what I’ve said so far is anything new, as it’s all provided for in the constitution of the country.
I am now going to take a radical diversion from the norm and boldly suggest that the next Commissioner of Police in the Guyana Police Force should not be a serving member of the current force. Yes, I said it. Absolutely not. The reason for this is that, it will be a gargantuan task for any commissioner coming in, to turn around the face and fortune of the department. His first priority is to command a disciplined force. As my old boss, Ignatius McRae, would say, this is a disciplined wuk. Well, you can’t do disciplined wuk if you have indisciplined workers. Next is to assemble a team of officers whose job would be to do a public relations blitz, in an effort to restore the public trust in the department. Police cannot function effectively on their own without the public trust. I’ve known many a crime to be solved as a result of information given to the police by the old lady down the street, or the little boy who dreams of being a detective someday. I personally sat at my desk on several occasions and an informant would walk into the station or call and give valuable information, which led to crimes being solved. You will not have that if the police and civilians continue to have a hostile posture towards each other. Together we are one.
A valuable asset for the next commissioner to have is visibility. Come out from behind desk sometimes and move around the country in an impromptu fashion. Be vocal when appropriate on matters of importance to the public safety. The holder, after all, is the Commissioner of Police and has serious authority at their disposal. Use that authority but do not operate outside of mandate. If a Deputy Commissioner acting as CoP ask himself this question, Would I prefer my legacy to be that of the best Deputy Commissioner, or one of the worst Commissioners? I personally would take being the best deputy any day. A number of Commissioners of Police have faded into oblivion because they made no positive mark on the force. Some were either corrupt yes-men afraid of their own shadows or political hacks who were grossly incompetent. I’m not inclined to call names, but anybody who follows police matters would confirm this. The next CoP must be prepared to disclose to some competent authority his financial assets before ascending to the office and upon retirement. No compromise should be made here. The question most are asking at this point is, since no policemen are to be considered where do we get the candidates from? This is not rocket science and there is precedence for this type of thing. Both Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago have successfully turned to the military for leadership at the helm of their respective police forces. In Jamaica’s case three times. Currently Trinidad and Tobago boasts one of the most dynamic and successful Commissioners of Police in the Region in Gary Griffith, a former Captain in the army.
The upper ranks of the Guyana Police Force are in shambles, and I don’t recognise a single individual who would be effective in the role as head of the force. To be fair, in a couple of cases, there are officers who have the police knowledge and experience to do a good job, but the problem is one of perception here. Those officers fairly or unfairly have been tainted with either the red or green paint of some political organisation or the other. Thus, in my mind should not be considered for the job at this juncture. It is too critical a period in our existence to take that chance. Governments’ role in ensuring the Commissioner of Police succeeds is to give him the personnel and equipment to allow him to do his job. The commissioner must, I repeat must, demand accountability from his commanders and other senior officers in order that discipline may trickle down to the rank and file. If I were commissioner, every police officer, male or female, and irrespective of their particular skill sets, would have to serve at least one month per year doing general duties at an outstation. There is no reason why there are specialists in the police force who can’t function as policemen and policewomen. I know of at least one officer who spent 99 percent of his career in a particular department where he had no interaction with the public and as such was never exposed to actual law enforcement. He became a very senior officer and then they put him in charge of a division. That is a recipe for disaster and the particular officer is not the problem. Politicians ought to avoid making incendiary statements such as wanting or expecting the commissioner to be loyal to the government. That is nonsense and very backward thinking. It’s time we start to put country first and not our individual comfort zones. Finally, my advice to the next commissioner is to be firm but be fair when leading the men and women. Don’t be a tyrant but make discipline a motto. To the youngsters who aspire to be policemen, I remind them that the public is not the enemy. Criminals are, and the police force is not an avenue to riches. For that, find another profession.

Yours truly,
RA Dickson,
Ex Homicide Investigator

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