Police being equipped to eliminate handwritten statements – AG

…efforts underway to revise GPF Standing Orders

As part of efforts to modernise the Guyana Police Force (GPF), Government is equipping the law enforcement agency with the necessary tools to enhance its functions while also seeking to ensure officers take accountability for their actions.
This is according to Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, while delivering remarks at the handing over of regional Criminal Bench Books to local stakeholders, including the Police Force, on Wednesday.
AG Nandlall disclosed that Government was currently working with the Police Force to review and modernise its Standing Orders (SOs) – an initiative that will see Policemen and women being held more accountable for their actions when interacting with members of the public.
He pointed out that lawyers, including State Counsels, were often admonished by the courts whenever they represented the Police Force in civil cases filed against the agency or officers regarding their conduct with the public.
“I being your lawyer in those courts, and my representatives, we bear the brunt of those admonitions. As a result, we are working with the Police and the University of Guyana to review the Police Standing Orders to inject into it, greater accountability, greater responsibility and to bring it in sync with the new realities of policing and new developments that are taking place in relation to the rights and freedoms of individuals. So, you will have a different regulatory framework even at the level of the Police Standing Orders,” Nandlall noted.

Meanwhile, as part of these efforts to modernise policing in the country, Government, through the Support for Criminal Justice System (SCJS), has already been providing the necessary resources, infrastructure and capacity-building training to bolster the Force’s operations.

Eliminating handwritten statements
In addition to the training of cohorts of Special Prosecutors, millions of dollars are being spent to upgrade Police Stations into modern entities and build new ones.
As a matter of fact, AG Nandlall revealed that under the SCJS programme, the Police Force was equipped with several computers along with support services to transition from handwritten statements in courts.
“We [need to] stop using handwritten statements in criminal proceedings. You [Magistrates] ought not to get a handwritten statement in a criminal trial anymore. And Magistrates must make objection [when this happens],” the Attorney General stressed.
He pointed out that he had requested a list of items along with support services such as typists that are needed by the GPF to ensure that they eliminate the use of handwritten statements in court.
“[But] still I got a report that they’re using handwritten statements in some cases. I wrote them again. And they gave me another list of computers, which we are now publicly procuring, which they said will address all their needs,” the Minister noted.
These efforts, according to Nandlall, are demonstrative of Government’s commitment to transforming every aspect of the country.
“This is 2024 and when we speak about transformation and transforming this country, we’re not speaking the words only. We are walking the walk and talking the talk. So, in this transformation, we can’t have handwritten statements anymore. We have passed that stage, we rebuilding all the Police Stations now into modern edifices,” he posited.
Last year, Government injected some $28.6 billion into the Police Force towards addressing infrastructural deficiencies and enhancing the Force’s capacity as well as the delivery of continuous training opportunities.
Of that amount, $2.9 billion was expended on infrastructural expansion and upgrades on Police Stations across the country. These works are expected to be completed this year.
On Monday, Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh, in presentation of the $1.146 trillion 2024 budget, announced that some $5.4 billion is earmarked this year to advance the GPF’s infrastructure works. Chief among these is the construction of the state-of-the art 12-storey Brickdam Police Station.
Another $1 billion is earmarked in 2024 to expand the Force’s land and water fleet with the purchase of additional vehicles, boats, and engines, while a further $2 billion is to advance and expand the use of the integrated Information and Communications Technology (ICT) system under the Safe Country Initiative to enhance surveillance and deter potential criminal activities.
This year will also see efforts to improve the investigative and forensic capabilities of ranks by conducting training, both locally and regionally, for which $250 million has been budgeted. In total, the GPF received a $30.3 billion allocation in Budget 2024. (G8)