The Guyana Police Force (GPF) has announced its much-anticipated annual promotions, elevating some 355 junior ranks this year. The announcement was made by Police Commissioner Leslie James in his 2020 New Year message on Wednesday.
Police Commissioner Leslie James
According to the Top Cop, promotion is a reward for hard work, invaluable dedication, conscientiousness and selfless attitude.
“It is the demonstration of the understanding of your roles, purposes and responsibilities. It is and must be seen as a reward for the unconditional serving and maintenance of zealously guarding our ideals,” he noted.
Commissioner James pointed out to the promoted ranks that their stellar performances have merited their achievements to embrace the gold standard and as such, they must never retreat from challenging themselves.
“We have worked assiduously during the past year to advance our organisation by maintaining public security, public safety, trust and confidence. We must continue to win the respect and trust among the citizenry through exemplary conduct and professionalism,” the Police Chief asserted.
The Top Cop went on to note that the Force is not monolithic and has gone through various processes and stages of development since its establishment in 1839. In fact, he pointed out that it has completed the first year of the current Strategic Management Plan as well as established a Police Reform Change Board (PRCB) to coordinate the Strategic Plan.
Additionally, he noted that while the Force has managed to keep serious crimes down, road fatalities continue to climb with an eight per cent increase.
On this note, Commissioner James posited that ‘Operation Safe Roads’ is still in effect countrywide. He added that the crime strategies with Temporal and Spatial Analysis approaches have also been implemented.
Among the promotions approved by the Police Service Commission (PSC) are three Superintendents to Senior Superintendents, three Deputy Superintendents as Superintendents and three Assistant Superintendents to Deputy Superintendents.
Meanwhile, 14 Inspectors, including two Women Chief Inspectors, were elevated to the post of Assistant Superintendent, while nine Inspectors were promoted to Chief Inspector. A further 25 Sergeants were promoted to the rank of Inspector.
Elevated to the rank of Sergeant were 81 Corporals and one Lance Corporal. Additionally, 125 Constables and Lance Corporals were promoted to the rank of Corporal. Another 35 Constables were elevated to the rank of Lance Corporal.
Under Special Constabulary, 13 Corporals received promotions to the rank of Sergeant, while a total of 21, inclusive of 13 Lance Corporals and eight Constables, were elevated to Corporal. In addition, 14 Special Constables were also promoted to Lance Corporals.
Meanwhile, Guystac Special Constabulary saw a total of eight promotions this year. These include three Corporals to the rank of Sergeant, one Lance Corporal and one Constable to Corporal, and three Constables to the rank of Lance Corporal.
Last year, the Police Force promoted over 500 ranks.
