Top Cop calls for constructive criticism to foster growth in Police Force

Jul 19, 2024 News

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Kaieteur News – Amid criticisms of its poor performance by members of the public Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken has reiterated calls for constructive criticism so as to foster growth in the organisation.

The Commissioner of Police was at the time giving brief remarks on Wednesday, when the Force hosted its 185th Anniversary Symposium at the Police Officers’ Mess Annexe, Eve Leary, Georgetown.  “We can only be the change you want to see if you embrace us,” Hicken said, whilst citing that criticism is necessary for the GPF for creating the evolution to be compatible, to what’s occurring in the global sphere.

Hicken highlighted that the police are unable to work in isolation and so if faced with criticism, it should be in a constructive manner. “We are children of parents birthed in Guyana, we are citizens of Guyana and so when you speak to us, speak to us like your children, your brother, or a family.”

With that being said, the Commissioner of Police underscored that if citizens start breaking those barriers, the Police Force’s output in work will improve. “…Nothing is wrong with ventilating when they are issues within our (Police Force) organization, (it’s) not what is done, is how it is done,” Hicken said during the symposium.

He continued, “…The same critical look, or the same critical analysis you are doing for the Police Force, please praise us when we are making efforts to develop capacity, praise us when we are doing good, and praise us for maintaining peaceful communities and praise us because incrementally we’re doing well in terms of our crime statistics.” The Commissioner of Police concluded, “Tools will always be our problem in terms of quantity but we are maximizing what we have and of course, we should be given kudos for that ….”

At the said symposium, Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn called out the Guyana Police Force (GPF) over questionable accounting practices, bribery and corruption and vowed to conduct audits and investigations into the alleged malpractices.

“The core issue is at the level of the quality of policing,” the minister stated during his address. “Not quantity in terms of how many police are out there, but the quality of policing.” Benn acknowledged the diversity of the GPF’s training, which has included input from the UK, Canada, India, and China. “The question is the quality of our policemen and women,” the minister said.”

According to the Home Affairs Minister, the most pressing issue is concerning procurement practices and financial accounting within the GPF. He said despite the government’s efforts to address these problems, they have not received the necessary cooperation or response from the GPF leadership. The minister revealed that he has made numerous requests to the GPF leadership to address these issues, but has been met with delays, undermining, and a “disregard of the things we want you to do.”

“There is a significant problem,” Minister Benn declared, vowing to launch reviews, investigations, and audits into the GPF’s procurement processes and financial practices.

He further added, “If money goes to places it should not go, it means that there is massive collusion and corruption. We want new accountable policing; we want new and improved and honest work done. We want to see that the paper trail is not fraudulent because we hear a lot of issues and I know there is a lot of turning back of invoices where you cannot verify what was said to have occurred, occurred.

Bribery

Addressing the issue of bribery within the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the minister stated that “if a policeman on the road decides to do right or left, and people left money, it’s a discredit to him and the Force in the public.”  Additionally, Minister Benn revealed that he has been making sudden, unannounced visits to police stations and fire stations, only to find that standards of cleanliness and order often leave much to be desired.

“The police stations must be the most welcoming place in the community,” the minister stressed. “The standards and the things we want for ourselves at a personal level are those we should accord to the people that pay taxes,” he added.

The minister’s criticisms extended to the conduct of police officers, calling for an end to disrespectful behaviour and the extortion of citizens, as he has received endless complaints. “I want the disrespect to people to stop, at police stations. Police must speak properly and politely. Police, the station sergeants and others must make sure that the facilities are clean and well-kept and that they are functioning. Police must help people, police must not extort people”, Minister Benn asserted.

The minister also took aim at police commanders who allegedly flaunt their wealth. Minister Benn remarked: And the police commanders and others who find themselves in authority must not think that arriving at the job that they need to award and reward themselves and to walk around with plenty gold and diamond around their neck and their fingers. If they have that, it means that they are men who can be bought, I can buy you because that is what you like and you flaunt it. It must stop. It must stop”.  The minister emphasised that the government is committed to rooting out corruption within the GPF and restoring public trust in the nation’s law enforcement agency.

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• Clifton Hicken, criticism, police, Robeson Benn, symposium

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