Rohee demands total change at Number 51 Police Station

Jan 28, 2014 News

– following accusation about ranks committing armed robberies

A shake up in the administration of the Police B Division (Berbice) following recent allegations that police ranks were involved in a recent spate of robberies in the Corentyne District.

Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee

This follows a recent recommendation made by Minister Clement Rohee to Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell.
The Minister said that he has been receiving reports of a spate of robberies in a string of villages close to each other on the Corentyne, something that has greatly concerned him.
“I made one recommendation to him, and that recommendation was that I wanted a total change at the Number Fifty-one police station and to make that public…I wanted a total changing of the guard…,” Rohee told a news conference at the People’s Progressive Party Headquarters yesterday.
But honouring the recommendation will be left up to the Commissioner, since the Minister cannot order the changes himself.
“The Minister can only give general directions to the Commissioner but it is the Commissioner who has command and control over the ranks,” Rohee explained, adding that he has also shared his concern with Divisional Commander Brian Joseph.
Last Sunday night, angry residents of Number 48 Village blocked a police car that had turned up with ranks at a robbery scene and accused them of robbing a supermarket run by Lallbachan Ramdeen and his wife, minutes earlier.
Residents believe that the same four men had committed another robbery last Thursday in the adjoining village and since no one has been captured, they are convinced that the perpetrators are police ranks.
“Was the same way it happen in Number 47 last week. It is overbearing now. People have to know about this,” a resident of the area had told this newspaper.
Kaieteur News understands that Commissioner Brumell will be visiting Berbice today to meet publicly with residents so that an amicable solution could be reached.
In light of the suspicions, public confidence in the police has hit an all time low in certain sections of the Corentyne, and this has led to the formation of a number of Community Policing Groups (CPG).
Yesterday, Minister Rohee who has been pushing for the establishment of CPGs, lashed out at a certain media house for describing them as vigilante groups.
He stressed at yesterday’s press conference hosted by the ruling PPP, of which he is the general secretary, that Government does not encourage the formation of vigilante groups to tackle rising criminal activities.
“Vigilante group has a certain connotation and I think we need to stay away from that because of the perception and connotation of what is meant by a vigilante group,” the PPP General Secretary said.
He told reporters that for several years, the government has been placing much emphasis on the establishment of Community Policing Groups (CPG) and Neighbourhood Police, to assist the regular police force in maintaining law and order.
Rohee said that most people have accepted these two concepts as best suited for Guyana as a whole.
The Minister was referring directly to a recent media report that stated that vigilante groups were being formed in Berbice in response to a spate of robberies that are occurring in the county.
“Nobody has questioned the need to establish Community Policing Group or Neighbourhood Police because I think we have managed to successfully gain buy-in to these two concepts,” Rohee said.
“Vigilante groups are something a little different,” he added.
The Minister admitted that there is a great loss of confidence in the Guyana Police Force, a situation he said needs to be addressed quickly.
“It’s a battle they have to win back, that’s a police battle…I think they also have to work very hard to get out of this ‘We-know-it-all syndrome’. That is a syndrome that is affecting some members of the Force… The police do not know it all, they cannot know it all,” Rohee declared.
He said that that is why the police must work more closely with members of the public to regain the respect they have lost, so that crime can be easily suppressed.
“They must walk the villages like the Constables used to do before and not stand aloft from the population, because once you stand aloft from the population, you lose it,” the Home Affairs Minister stated.