Dear Editor,
Please permit me to make another call for the establishment of a Behavioural Science Unit in the Guyana Police Force. Recent utterances by Senior Superintendent of Police, Calvin Brutus during the launch of a Train – Trainers’ – Course conducted by the Police in collaboration with the University of Guyana has caused me to again renew my call for the establishment of the Unit. According to INews Guyana, Senior Superintendent of Police, Calvin Brutus posited, “The use of force seems to be one area we’re lagging behind, and in that regard, many locations and even some individual members are now currently blacklisted by the US State Department. Training is one area that will assist us to get beyond the blacklisting so that we can benefit from closer collaboration with the US Embassy.” This statement is quite revealing.
Recently a policeman attached to the SWAT squad was placed before the court for the unlawful shooting to death a civilian at Dartmouth and a Police Corporal appeared before a Magistrate at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court charged with causing death of two youths by dangerous driving. Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp, Messenger and other social media platforms are awash with inappropriate behaviour by policemen at all rank levels.
Some of the unsavoury videos were even posted by the policemen themselves dressed in uniform. The recent USAID report on the GPF is very instructive. The Police administration appears to be incompetent to quell this sad state of affairs. It boils down to one word – behaviour.
According to Harold Russell and Allan Beigel, “behaviour is a major phenomenon that the Police must deal with, not only the behaviour of criminals, but also the behaviour of the general public, the behaviour of his family and his own behaviour. He must learn more of the behaviour and the behavioural science if he is to effectively and safely carry out his job.”
What is needed is a system to identify these problem officers early and take corrective action. Walker et al (2000) suggests, “Early Warnings (EW) systems are data-driven management tools for identifying Police officers with performance problems and for providing some intervention to correct those problems. EW systems have emerged as popular tools for enhancing police accountability. “According to Arnold (2001),” These systems have, to a limited degree, provided a ‘heads up’ regarding behavioural problems with Police officers and afford the agency an opportunity to implement remedial action. “Rhyons and Brewster (2000) cautioned: “An early warning system is not a substitute for good supervision. Instead, it is a tool designed to help good supervisors become better.” Here is where a Behavioural Science Unit will fit nicely into play. Members of the GPF can benefit tremendously from the establishment of a Behaviour Science Unit in the GPF. Such a Unit if properly constituted and well-staffed, not just employing an inexperienced person as a psychologist as was done recently, will go a long way towards influencing acceptable behaviour of policemen at all levels, thereby promoting public confidence in the Force that is sadly lacking.
May God bless the Guyana Police Force.
Yours respectfully,
Clinton Conway
Assistant Commissioner
of Police (Retired)
