Police in moves to erase Felix Austin from college’s name

Jul 20, 2022 News

– Slowe urges rethink

Kaieteur News – Retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, Paul Slowe has raised concerns over the Guyana Police Force’s (GPF) decision to change the name of the Felix Austin Police College to the Guyana Police Force Academy.

GPF in a recent Facebook post made has notified the public that it “has taken a decision to change the name of the Felix Austin Police College to the Guyana Police Force Academy. However, Slowe believes that the move is one that will erase the history behind GPF and its training college. In a letter to the editor of this newspaper, Slowe wrote: “I asked myself whether this is a deliberate effort to erase or re-write the history of the Guyana Police Force, which recently observed its 183rd anniversary”.

The police force’s flyer for the Logo and Slogan competition

Felix Austin was the first Guyanese Commissioner of Police after Guyana gained Independence in 1966 and Slowe stated that this was one of the main reasons why the “Police training school” formed in 1956 was renamed after him in 1987. “The Police Training School gained the status of a college and was renamed the Felix Austin Police College on August 28, 1987, as a tribute to Guyana’s first post-independence Commissioner of Police”, Slowe wrote.

The retired Assistant Commissioner explained that prior to Austin’s appointment, Commissioners of Police were chosen from among British Nationals because Guyana was under British rule. When Guyana gained independence, Austin was appointed Commissioner of Police in 1967 and became the first Guyanese to hold that position. Slowe also pointed out that Austin had an illustrious police career and was the founder of the Police Literary and Debating Section of the Police Sports Club. He noted too that Austin was one of the founding members of the Police Male Voice Choir and had also served as Chairman and “militant member of the Police Federation now known as the Police Association”.

Slowe is of the view that renaming the Felix Austin Training College will erase a key part of Guyana’s history and wants GPF to reconsider its decision. Slowe wrote: “I hope that the persons who took the decision to erase the name of the first Commissioner of Police after Guyana gained independence from the police training institution in Georgetown will reconsider this decision”.

Retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, Paul Slowe

Speaking with Kaieteur News on Tuesday, Director of GPF’s Corporate Communications Unit (CCU), Mark Ramotar related that the reason behind the decision is simply because the force is launching a new police academy, with an upgraded status, one that is accredited by the University of Guyana (Guyana). Ramotar added that the formation of the new academy is part of GPF’s strategic plan to upgrade the education level of its ranks and ranks in training. This move, he said, was made possible by a five-year Memorandum of Agreement between the force and UG. The MoA was signed in 2021, with the purpose of refining existing programmes and developing new ones that cater for members of the force.

GPF has since invited interested artists and designers to be part of a Logo and Slogan competition for the new police academy. Competitors are being asked to submit a Logo and a Slogan design in PDF format for the “The Guyana Police Force Academy”.

All Submissions must be sent in no later than 12:00hrs on Thursday July 28, via email to [email protected]. The winning entry will be awarded $300,000 in cash.