Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:59 AM
Dec 09, 2012 News
– disciplinary matters also at a standstill
The absence of a Chairman for the Police Service Commission could create another crisis if the administration does not act quickly to appoint a new candidate.
The death of the Commission’s last Chairman, Dennis Morgan, last month, has left a void that could lead to yet another delay in the promotion of senior ranks of the Guyana Police Force.
Besides promotions, appeals from officers seeking redress, acting appointments and applications for cadetship are addressed by a fully constituted commission.
The Police Service Commission is a five-man body that is responsible for matters relating to the upper echelons of the Force.
While it consists of a Chairman and a Secretary, there is no Vice-Chairman to automatically take over the reins of the Commission, since that person will have to be appointed by the President.
The present Commission was sworn-in in January 2011 after the previous commission’s life ended in October the previous year. During that time there were delays in promotions and appointments, and disciplinary matters involving officers at the top of the Guyana Police Force.
Between 2000 and 2003, matters relating to this aspect of the force were held up due to the absence of a properly constituted Commission.
This newspaper has been unable to ascertain how many disciplinary matters are pending at the Police Service Commission. The delay in dealing with these could impact the careers of the officers involved.
But one of the pressing issues at the moment is the appointment of a substantive police commissioner.
At present, Deputy Commissioner Leroy Brumell is the Commissioner of Police (Acting) and he can only be appointed to the substantive post by a properly constituted Police Service Commission.
Article 211 (1) of the Constitution states that the Commissioner of Police and every Deputy Commissioner of Police shall be appointed by the president acting after meaningful consultation with the Leader of the Opposition and Chairperson of the Police Service Commission after the Chairperson has consulted with the other members of the Commission.
“We have this culture of waiting for a crisis before we fix a situation rather than preventing the crisis,” a senior officer of the Guyana Police Force stated.
As the year comes to a close, the big question is whether the force will revert to tradition of announcing promotions at the beginning of the year, a move that now appears hardly likely.
For the past two years the police promotions have been pushed back by several months for different reasons.
Last year’s promotions were announced in August, a delay that was blamed on the problems arising from the unforeseen stepping aside in December of the late Commissioner Henry Greene, in the face of allegations of rape made against him.
But there may not be too much bickering for promotions at the very top of the organization since the Guyana Police Force has its complement of assistant commissioners.
With two Deputy Commissioners and a total of 13 Assistant Commissioners all told, some might argue that the force is top-heavy.
In 2001, the Symonds Group Ltd, consultants for the UK Department for International Development, had recommended the reduction in the number of Deputy Police Commissioners to one with a clear definition of the post and the reduction of the number of assistant commissioners from twelve to four. It also recommended the amalgamation of the four ranks of Senior Superintendent, Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent, and Assistant Superintendent into one rank of Superintendent.
The number of Superintendents in turn should decline from 137 to approximately 35.
In line with this structure, the report suggested that the Deputy Commissioner should be assigned the sole responsibility for disciplinary matters. This would allow the Commissioner to adjudicate on disciplinary matters with complete impartiality.
The question of impending promotions within the Guyana Police Force will be in most interest to several Cadet Officers who have been languishing in their current positions for more than two years.
The Disciplined Services Commission had recommended that a revitalised cadetship scheme could be canvassed among successful secondary school and university graduates and a Police Academy should be established, with at least one intake of Cadets every year, owing to the need to produce well-educated officers.
There is the argument that as long as the Officer Corps of the Guyana Police Force remains static, there will be little room for upward mobility of the junior ranks.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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