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Aug 22, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
The police force is not rotten. There may be a few rotten eggs within but not enough to contaminate the whole organization.
It is unfortunate, therefore, that because some allegations that have been made against some ranks that the organization should be described as rotten.
The same aspersion has not been cast against the Guyana Defence Force and in recent years there have been many incidents involving ranks both in their private and professional capacities that have brought the military into disrepute. Yet no one has jumped up and said that the military is rotten or that Guyana could not go forward into the elections with that type of military.
The criticisms made are of course not ill-intended. It sprung no doubt from the fact there were allegations, very serious allegations, which were being made about certain ranks, and the recognition that there was a need for a serious revamp of the organization if those allegations were true.
But to describe the organization as rotten because of these allegations, is going a bit too far. There may be quite a few bad eggs within the force but there are also many, many good officers who continue to work for the good of the police force and the good of Guyana.
If the Guyana Police Force was rotten, then by now Guyana would have been in an ungovernable state. But we know that the police have made tremendous gains over the past few years and from a situation of a near breakdown of law and order, they have gained the upper hand.
If, however, there are concerns that within the Guyana Police Force there may be individuals who are with impunity acting in a way that can besmirch the reputation of the force, then there should be a call for action to be taken. It is patently unfair to paint the force as being rotten when just as serious allegations have been made about the military and no such statements have been made.
It is also unfortunate that some organization going by the name of the Guyana Ex-Police Association should have issued a statement in which it sought to imply that there were attempts to undermine the professionalism of the force. If this same organization has to be consulted when it comes to appointing certain senior officers, it should be careful in rushing to judgment. The government clearly has to determine whether to now ignore this organization entirely because of the statement that it has made which is premature and misguided.
There have been other calls for a commission of inquiry. These calls are premature. If Guyana has reached the stage where the police cannot be trusted to conduct an impartial investigation into the alleged actions of a few ranks, then we are in pretty poor state.
Guyana has not yet reached that state. There are many outstanding men and women who serve the force. Many ranks have taken great personal risk to reduce crime. Some of them have lost their lives.
At a meeting of senior officers, certain allegations were made. It is for these allegations to be passed to the Office of Professional Responsibility to investigate the ranks concerned. The nature of that investigation should go beyond who is driving what type of vehicle. There should be a probe into these ranks and the assets they hold. These things take time. They are not going to be achieved overnight.
If, however, a preliminary probe finds that the problem is bigger than is felt, if there is also truth that some policemen are running drug rings for drug lords, then a wide public investigation would be required and it would be for the government at that stage to do this.
But for the time being, the police must be given the chance to show that it is capable of investigating its own ranks. If Guyana ever reaches the stage whereby the police cannot be trusted to investigate a few junior ranks, then public safety is in serious problems.
Guyana has not yet reached that state and the police force is not rotten. The army is also not rotten.
In Guyana, we like to beat ourselves up about problems and we seem to find little time to applaud those men and women who each day go to work be it in the army and the police force and do their jobs professionally.
We have to support our security forces and ensure that the option is never closed to intervening to launch public probes. Neither the police nor the army must become closed institutions. They are not now and they should not be in the future.
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