Guyanese, Surinamese ranks complete capacity building training

As the Guyana Police Force (GPF) seeks to promote and sustain its development, several ranks were awarded certificates for successfully completing capacity building training in strategic planning at the Police Officers’ Training Centre on Friday. A total of 14 Police ranks participated in the training; 12 GPF members and two members of the Surinamese Police Force.
The programme had 11 deliverables which sought to make participants aware of the roles, functions and objectives of strategic planning, team building, risk assessment and communication within the Guyana Police Force. Participants were also exposed to the reform programmes including the United Kingdom’s Security Sector Reform Programme (SSRP) which saw UK experts Paul Mathais and Andy Odell offering support to assist in the sector’s reforms under the guidance of

Presidential Advisor under the UK Security Reform Programme, Russell Combe.
Head of the Strategic Planning Unit and Senior Superintendent, Royston Andries-Junior explained that the participants were tasked with expertise to train other members of their respective Police Forces in the role of strategic planning. Assessing the two-week exercise, Andries-Junior said there was 100 per cent participation, even though there was mixture of both junior and senior ranks.
“Such an experience indicates to me that as the Guyana Police Force moves forward, we must take into consideration that the best solutions do not only lie at the top, but can be contributed from all members across the Force,” he encouraged.
Meanwhile, acting British High Commissioner to Guyana, Ron Rimmer reminded that his country is committed to ensuring that tangible action is taken during and following its SSRP initiative.
“This training course is one of those first tangible actions and is part of a planned series of activities which we are looking to fund and conduct over the next few months,” the UK diplomat highlighted.
He added that his country will continue to undertake initiatives that will seek to support measures to improve security for Guyana’s citizens, not that the course was designed to improve the capacity, capability, and operational efficiency of the GPF’s Strategic Planning Unit. Rimmer thanked the two Surinamese ranks for their participation in the programme and emphasised that they implement some of the strategic planning measures in their home country. The programme ran from September 4-15.
It was during a meeting with former British Prime Minister David Cameron in September 2015, that President David Granger had requested that the multimillion-dollar security sector reform programme be revived. After UK expert Russell Combe had carried out an assessment of the reforms that were needed within the local Police Force, Combe handed over his preliminary findings to the Guyana Government in June 2017.
British High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn when he addressed the opening of the workshop earlier this month, said the launch was a precursor to the other areas of support that the UK was contributing. The Prison Service, Defence Force, and specialised agencies such as the Special Organised Crime Unit were some of the agencies that were receiving support.
Acting Police Commissioner David Ramnarine had welcomed the addition to the Strategic Planning Unit, indicating his willingness to see the realisation of strategies recommended under the programme.
“More and more, every sector of society is depending, requesting, demanding improved services from the Police Force,” he told the participants before they started their training. As part of the implementation phase, UK Security Expert Combe was first recruited on a one-year programme where he guided and advised the Guyanese Government on reforming the security sector.