Former Top Cop, Seelall Persaud releases autobiography

…narrates Guyana’s turbulent political history, crime wave period

…Attorney General hails book as unprecedented, valuable

Seelall Persaud, DSM, who retired as Commissioner of Police in 2018, has written an autobiography in which he, among other things, chronicled his life in the Guyana Police Force (GPF) where he served for in excess of three decades.

He served as the Top Cop from 2014-2018 under the presidencies of PPP/C’s Donald Ramotar and APNU/AFC’s David Granger. Persaud, who was born in the former British colony, hails from the Cinderella county of Essequibo. He enlisted in the GPF on October 15, 1984. He was the country’s eleventh Police Commissioner.
Persaud is a highly qualified man, having pursued academic studies in the areas of international relations, public management, and security. He is the holder of a Master of Business Administration (MBA), a graduate diploma in international studies and a certificate from Harvard Kennedy School for senior executives in national and international studies. He is currently employed in the public service.
The book titled “Stepping Out of the Herd: My life in the Guyana Police Force”, which consists of 12 chapters, was formally launched on Friday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.
Besides narrating his successful career in law enforcement, Persaud also wrote about Guyana’s turbulent political history, and about how Senior Police officers were subjected to political directives, setting out whose interest the Police Force was designed to serve at varying periods and what impact it had on society.
He also give insight into the many cases he investigated during the country’s crime wave period from 2002 to 2009 including the notorious Rondell “Fine Man” Rawlins gang, drug lord Roger Khan, former Guyana Defence Force (GDF) officer turned seasonal criminal Lindon “Blackie” London, the Agricola, East Bank Demerara (EBD) and Lusignan, East Coast Demerara (ECD) massacres, the phantom squad, the unsolved murder of former Agriculture Minister Satyadeow Persaud and the disappearance of three dozen AK 47 rifles from the Police Force.
Persaud, who achieved his first promotion to cadet in the 1990s in the Standard Officer’s Course, also gave several recommendations in his book for the reforming of the Police Force.
Among them, is better remuneration for Police ranks, as he believes without this, they will be susceptible to corrupt activities. He also recommended that more qualified ranks be recruited into the organisation which has been in existence for more than a century.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, who delivered the feature address, assured that the Government will review Seelall’s recommendations as it seeks to create fair and effective policing practises.
Nandlall described the book as “unprecedented and valuable”, noting that it is the first time a former Top Cop has written such a book.
“For the first time, a Police officer who would have been on the scene, who would have been involved, who would have had first-hand knowledge of a lot of events, a lot of violent episodes that took place in this country, and we now have a narrative coming from almost an eyewitness, and investigator…” said Nandlall as he pointed out that Persaud is the second Police Commissioner of East Indian ancestry.
The book, Nandlall said, confronts in a very real and frank manner many subjects that have been swept under the carpet, and many incidents that we do not wish to talk about.
While there are writings about these issues by academics, Commissions of Inquiry (CoIs) and journalists, Nandlall said that these reports are radically different from what Persaud presents in his book, describing them as “ex post-facto examination”.
He said that the former Police Commissioner displayed perseverance throughout his Police career, having come from a poor background and being able to rise all the way to the helm of the Police Force.
Importantly, the Attorney General pointed out that, in the book, Persaud repeatedly makes the connection between politics and criminality in Guyana. He added, “This is something I have been saying… The strong connection between criminality and politics…”
According to him, the book deals candidly with how policing was approached under the APNU/AFC Government as compared to the previous PPP/C Administration. Nandlall said, too, that Persaud further documents about how he was escorted into the polling station during the 1985 elections and told to “mark his x next to the palm tree”.
“This book is very, very valuable. The book is going to be a remarkable addition for literature, for history and it will shed light on many areas that we lack information on, or we have wrong information on. And it will also put out there once more, many of the conclusions that have been put out, many inferences that have been drawn,” he said as he encouraged people to read the book.
He said that there are many good recommendations in the book that the Government will review.
Meanwhile, Persaud explained that after his retirement, his mind could not retire into idleness, and as such he decided to write the book. He shared that in 2019 with significant free time on hand, he realised that he was not done with public service and embarked on writing.
“I decided to write about the Guyana Police Force to give a better understanding of the organisation in a way that can provide a basis for discussions on improving its efficiency and effectiveness in the future. I was cognisant that the Police Force operated under the principles of monopoly, isolation and secrecy. And therefore, while there were public comments on deliverables, the dynamics of the system and culture were to a large extent misunderstood or unknown,” he said.
According to the former Police Commissioner, he was motivated by the belief that information and knowledge he acquired over his years of service can make a difference in policing services in the country.
He explained that as he began his research, he became convinced that his experiences will be significantly useful in enhancing and understanding the system, weaknesses, culture stereotypes, biases, control mechanisms, accountability and other things.
Persaud shared that his time in the Police Force was a period of self-development from which youths can benefit from.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack, SC, told the gathering that Persaud always displayed attributes of a good Police officer, so it was no surprise when he was appointed Top Cop.
She noted that his many quality investigations yielded convictions. Besides seeking advice from the DPP’s Chambers on Police investigations, Persaud also sought help with his University of Guyana (UG) assignments, the DPP added.
UG’s Deputy Vice Chancellor, Dr Emmanuel Cummings advocated for Persaud’s book to be part of the libraries of universities in the Caribbean. He believes it will be beneficial to those studying law, Caribbean/political history as it is well-researched.
Also present at the launching were former President Donald Ramotar, Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat, Education Minister Priya Manickchand, several senior Police officers, High Court Judge Navindra Singh, Magistrates, Private Sector Commission (PSC) Chairman Paul Cheong, Persaud’s wife and children and other well-wishers.