Guyana to host major INTERPOL conference next year – Pres Ali

…says “this is not by accident”, Guyana earning global trust

President Dr Irfaan Ali has announced that Guyana will be hosting major regional and international conferences including the International Criminal Police Organization’s (INTERPOL’s) Americas Regional Conference in 2026 – something which he noted is as a result of the massive investments made over the years to enhance the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and law enforcement in the country.
“We’re investing in the best technology, the best assets and then soon, this year, we’ll have the annual Commissioners of Police Officers’ Conference in Guyana – the ACCP (Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police)… and then next year, we will have the INTERPOL Annual Conference in Guyana.”
“This is not by accident. The global system must have had to see the improvement; they must have had to have confidence in our system before they made these decisions,” President Ali said at the opening of the Guyana Police Force’s Annual Officers’ Conference on Wednesday.

The four-day event is being held at the GPF’s Eve Leary Headquarters in Georgetown under the theme: “Building a Resilience and Contemporary Police Force: Strengthening Accountability, Innovation and Partnership for Safer Communities.”

Partnership and collaboration
According to the Head of State, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, partnership and collaboration – at the national, regional and international levels – are key to the development and future of the GPF.
In addition to partners across the Caribbean, Guyana already has strong cooperations with police forces in the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), India, Brazil, Canada, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“Our international footprint is expanding… Right now, we’re partnering with the New York Police Department [and] the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. We’re also collaborating with key international institutions to develop our capacity and develop strategies to deal with gender-based violence or responsiveness, to enhance our capacity in homicide investigation and in this regard, we’re now partnering with the National Forensic Sciences University in India to develop our forensic capability and capacity – not only for Guyana, but it will be a forensic lab and a forensic ecosystem to support all of the region.”
The Head of State noted that this state-of-the-art facility will see international experts coming here to manage the forensic lab for the first three years during which they will transfer knowledge and technology to locals.
Back in December, the Guyana Government had announced this collaboration between India’s NFSU and the Guyana Police Force Academy to train and equip local officers in certified investigative techniques, forensic science, cyber security and forensic psychology.
This partnership, which also covers operationalising and management of the National Forensic Laboratory, will see Guyana being positioned as the Regional Centre for training in these areas through its Police Academy, which is based at Eve Leary.

International accreditation
Only recently, Guyana’s Police Academy received international accredited – something which regional partners are also benefitting form.
“Today, we have a Police Academy that is internationally accredited. And we had to pass many, many criteria and litmus test to get that accreditation. We had to show we have the human resource skills and capacity, we have the infrastructure, we have the curriculum, we have the persons to deliver the curriculum, and we succeeded in very [one] of those tests…”
“We already have 6,000 persons being trained in academy. The Junior Officers’ programme will start [soon] and we’ll have more than 30 of our regional friends and family-members joining us in that programme there,” the Head of State posited.

Enhance capacity
Meanwhile, Police Commissioner, Clifton Hicken, in his remarks at Wednesday’s opening of the GPF’s Annual Officers’ Conference, outlined the efforts undertaken over the past year to enhance the Force’s human resources’ capacity which has ultimately led to the international accreditation of its training academy.
Among these initiatives are the redesigning of the training curricular and the Police Force’s entrance examination to ensure a rigorous and fair selection process.
“We are committed to fostering equal opportunities which has resulted in 1,931 ranks receiving scholarships and 110 ranks benefitting from sponsorships for local and overseas courses, totally 746 courses for 2024,” he noted.
According to the Top Cop, the Police Force has made monumental strides in the past year across all six pillars of its 2022–2026 Strategic Plan, and remains resolute in fully realizing these strategies.
Hicken pointed out that this year, the GPF will be looking to establish a Toursim Department, Behaviour Unit and an Oil and Gas Unit as well as establishing a unit to deal with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and boost its digital, forensic and cyber capabilities.
While the Force has also established an Aviation Unit, the Police Commissioner said this will be boosted this year and also rollout accredited Diploma and Degree programmes in time for the completion of the modern Police Academy that is currently under construction at Dora on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway.
This $275 million state-of-the-art facility is set to revolutionise law enforcement training in Guyana, providing a cutting-edge environment that will shape the future of policing in the nation. It will include smart classrooms with IT labs, training studio for practical exercises, including driving simulators and tactical courses, driving circuit, drill square, an armoury and shooting range, as well as recreational spaces such as ball courts and swimming pool.