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Campbell calls on Top Cop to root out ‘bad eggs’, review SoPs when dealing with teens
(Kaieteur News) – Parliamentary lead of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Dr. Terrence Campbell has called on Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken to urgently “root out bad eggs” within the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and review standard operating procedures governing how officers interact with teenagers, following the death of 16-year-old Altaf King in Corriverton, Corentyne.
Campbell made the appeal on Friday while visiting the grieving family alongside several APNU Members of Parliament, including Dexter Todd, Saiku Andrews, Coretta McDonald and Vinceroy Jordan, as pressure mounts for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the teen’s death.
Eyewitness accounts state that the teenager died on June 25 after a police pursuit ended with his motorcycle being struck by a police vehicle. It is further alleged that officers initially left the scene before returning later with another vehicle.
APNU MPs at the home of Altaf King’s relatives on Friday.
Campbell said the incident raised serious questions about police conduct and the treatment of injured civilians.
“I want to say that not every policeman (is bad), because it can come across as though we’re against the Police Force, but there are bad eggs. There are some bad eggs in the Police Force. We are not against the police. They have a duty to protect and to serve, and we support them in that duty, but at the same time, the rules of engagement of our youths must be changed, and the Police Force must take urgent steps to root out all these bad eggs.”
He stressed that police officers have a duty to render assistance at the scene of an accident or collision, not abandon injured persons.
“That is not making sense,” Campbell added.
The APNU MP also renewed calls for urgent reforms to SOPs guiding police interactions with minors. He said failure to act could lead to further tragedies.
“If he didn’t do it then, he needs to do it now, and we’re gonna have to step up the pressure on the Police Force to review the SoPs as they relate to teenagers. They have to be retrained as to how they must engage. If they don’t do it, this will continue,” Campbell stressed.
Attorney and APNU MP Dexter Todd, a former police officer, said established legal principles recognise that civilians should not be placed in situations that could lead to their demise. This, he noted, was in harmony with a legal principle in criminal law called causation.
“It was very serious back then. They must still be held accountable for the chase, because they are not supposed to be chasing him… We’ve got to take what is happening in this country very, very seriously. It has become a lawless society.”
Lending his voice to the issue, APNU MP Saiku Andrews also questioned the necessity of the pursuit, pointing out that there were alternatives especially since the teenager was reportedly unlicensed.
“My thing is: you’re not chasing somebody that just committed a crime. You’re not chasing somebody that is in possession of high-power weapons or anything of the sort. You’re chasing somebody that is unlicensed. You know him. You know where he lives. You can come back the next day, later in the evening. There is no need to get involved in a high-speed chase,” Andrews posited.
APNU and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) have called for a comprehensive investigation into the incident, which has sparked public protests, including outside the Springlands Police Station.
The meeting at the family followed a peaceful protest at the Springlands Police Station, marking the second such activity as part of public calls for justice in wake of the teen’s death.
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