Police Force’s Strategic Plan will be in vain if ranks do not have right attitude, mindset

…Minister Benn tells over 700 Sergeants, Inspectors

The Guyana Police Force’s (GPF) Strategic Plan 2022-2026 is geared at transforming the law enforcement organisation into a contemporary one through the development of its human resources and other capabilities at levels, according to Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn.

This plan, however, would be in vain, if ranks do not have the right attitude and mindset.
This view was shared by Minister Benn as he addressed the Inspectors’ and Sergeants’ Conference which ran from February 1 to 4 at the Police Officers’ Mess Annexe, Eve Leary, Georgetown, which saw over 700 Inspectors and Sergeants from the 12 Regional Police Divisions in attendance.
Minister Benn, while delivering the feature address, applauded the committed effort and renewed energy of the Police Force under the leadership of Hicken, which, according to him, has led to significant reductions in crime and traffic-related issues over the past years.
“I want to recognise the achievements we’ve had in the last two years, where we have reduced crime and violence by 20% in Guyana, where we have reduced road traffic deaths below 100 persons dead on the roadways after 16 years of carnage on our roads. In spite of an increase in vehicles and practical challenges, we have done those things, the Police Force has done those things,” Minister Benn told those gathered.
Speaking on the Government’s role in aiding the Force’s Strategic Plan 2022-2026 which is geared at transforming the Police Force into a more contemporary one through the development of its Human Resources and their capabilities at levels, Minister Benn reminded the gathering of over 700 middle managers that it will be in vain if they do not have the right attitude and mindset.
“There’s a lot of things going for contemporary policing interventions in relation to information technology and in particular training, but it will all go to naught if you have the physical assets and the vehicles and the best legally trained and other trained managers…nothing matters if, at the middle level, the purpose, the willingness, the activity, and the direction do not integrate [with] what has to happen at the bottom in terms of actions to guarantee security.”
Meanwhile, Top Cop Clifton Hicken highlighted the importance of the Inspectors’ and Sergeants’ Conference which, he noted, is to have the entire Police Force moving in one direction.
According to him, the Conference is not about the middle managers coming to confirm their roles and responsibilities but identifying where there are deficiencies and how to fill these voids.

“In an effort to have the entire Guyana Police Force moving in one direction, it was necessary for the realisation of this conference. But this conference isn’t only going to be [about] presentations, group dynamics, identifying, confirmation of your roles and responsibilities but you are going to be managed by a cadre of Commanders with the requisite competence; they are going to listen to the views, understand the strengths and weaknesses, [and] where we need development,” Commissioner Hicken said.
The Top Cop further told the hundreds of Inspectors and Sergeants that all they would have learned during the conference must not be noticed by their superiors but by the citizens whom they serve.
“You are going to work harder than you have worked before. We are going to transform you during these [three] days and when you get back to the stations, the public [whom] you serve, they must see a difference in how things are being done,” Commissioner Hicken warned.
The Conference, which returned after a 12-year hiatus, was held under the theme “Developing Middle Management for Greater Efficiency through Strategic Partnerships, Accountability, and Performance”. There were several intense and excellent presentations by members of the Force as well as external individuals, covering several pertinent areas and topics of discussion.