The Caribbean country of the Bahamas recently issued a travel warning to its citizens visiting the United States. The Government was reacting to the incidents of African Americans who were killed by Police Officers, seemingly unjustly. America seems to be a racially divided country at this time, given the increasing number of protests against the Police caused by the recent Police killings of African Americans. African Americans believe that Police Officers are deliberately targeting and killing them because of systemic racial prejudice. Police Officers deny this reality and argue that they are being hampered by resources and public support to successfully do what amounts to a dangerous job.
Perhaps this is an over-simplification of the current situation, in a country where policing is defined as a force that historically protected the propertied rich and the fact that more interactions with Police Officers today, by proportion, take place between predominantly white Police Officers and African Americans. Defenders of Police Officers have their own perspective and African Americans share a vastly different perspective, neither of which seems to be close to each other. Thus, the racial divide.
One solution being discussed in the debate relates to the role of community policing. It is not a relatively new idea, but it is related to a movement originating in the 1960s to create racially integrated police departments around the US. Coming on the heels of the civil rights movement, it was felt that Police abuse of power and racially motivated actions against non-white individuals could be addressed by a racially integrated police force. The philosophy behind this thinking is that if the police force reflected the population of the community they patrol, it would promote better relations and give the community an appreciation for what policing entails. In turn, it was argued that greater cooperation between local community members and the Police would lead to a reduction in criminal activities.
Evidently, integration of the force is one step towards better relations between Police and the community they serve. But in reality, it is not enough to tackle the great divide between predominantly white Police Officers and the communities they patrol in the US. Today, it is widely believed that community policing can make a tremendous difference in reducing the tensions between Police and citizens, while stemming the tide against criminal activities.
In Guyana, integration of the Disciplined Forces has not been addressed by any major Government policy preference, past or present, though several commissions have called for a balancing of the Police and Army. President Granger served on one of them, and the Rodney Commission made similar recommendations. Yet, the Disciplined Forces remain African dominated. Community Policing Groups (CPGs) were officially introduced in Guyana in 1976 by Commissioner Henry Fraser, at a time when the African-dominated Disciplined Forces became highly politicised and officers pledged loyalty to Forbes Burnham. CPGs do have relevance today, ever since the first group was launched through the La Grange Police Station many years ago, but they represent a loose set of organisations with limited capabilities.
Community policing implies that the Police and community must work together to identify, prioritise and solve contemporary problems to improve the quality of life in the community. CPGs could be elevated as a frontline defence in preventing crime and lawlessness. My initial research indicates that there are about 270 CPGs, with a membership of over 5000. Given the level of crime in Guyana, this is not nearly as sufficient a number of volunteers to make a significant impact on crime reduction, particularly in the hinterland areas that have also periodically experienced violent crimes.
CPGs can function more effectively if there is greater integration of these groups into a more professional police force. This means providing more training for community police members and making available the necessary resources, training and equipment to ensure that they are adequately prepared to play an effective role in their respective communities. The policing groups are meant to relieve the professional police force of some of their responsibilities and assist with crime-fighting. A good place to start with effective policing would be to clean up the corruption that exists within the professional police force, and recruit new enlistees to create a police force that reflects the national population, followed by forging a closer working relationship with existing CPGs to address crime-related problems in Guyana.
