Another crime outrage – this time, the murder of an innocent child, Adrianna Younge – has brought together Guyanese as one to demand that the institution responsible for dealing with crime – the Guyana Police Force (GPF) – be reformed to perform its job professionally. On a personal level, I became involved in public protests on January 17, 1999, when “ROAR against Crime” was launched at Leonora. We suggested just such reforms, following a spate of murders, robberies and kidnappings that had swept the country in the wake of the PNC’s rejection of the results of the 1997 elections. During the PNC rule between 1964 and 1992, the GPF had been thoroughly de-professionalized by the Government, with “choke and rob” crimes escalating into “kick-down-the-door” banditry, against which a “Black Clothes” police unit created by Desmond Hoyte spawned a further degeneration of the GPF with extrajudicial violence and killings.
After the prison breakout of Feb 23, 2002, the crime tsunami escalated exponentially into an open attack on the GPF itself; and, in May 2003, the National Assembly unanimously approved the appointment of a Disciplined Forces Commission (DFC), the mandate of which was: “to examine any matter relating to the Public Welfare, Public Safety, Public Order, Defence or Security including the Structure and Composition of the Disciplined Forces and make recommendations, generally, with a view to promoting their greater efficiency, and giving effect to the need in the public interest that the composition of the Disciplined Forces take account of the ethnic constituents of the population.”
The Commission held over forty hearings with the widest public participation, and I made submissions on behalf of ROAR. I remember being questioned by Chairman Justice Ian Chang and Brigadier (retd) David Granger. Its report, comprising some 164 recommendations, of which seventy-one were directed at the Guyana Police, was submitted to Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran, on 6th May 2004.
It was passed on to a Special Select Committee chaired by PM Samuel Hinds, who wryly conceded its delay when he finally submitted it to the House on 10th June 2010. By then, there had been at least four massacres; hundreds of killings by the jailbreak-five, that had morphed into “African Freedom Fighters”; and a “Phantom gang” that saw the GPF descend even further into corruption and haplessness as drug lords and the police worked hand in glove.
In any reform of the GPF, we offer our Jan 1999 caution: “We should not be stampeded into taking ad hoc initiatives without formulating a plan that addresses the need to make fundamental changes in its structural base – or the malfunctions will continue unabated.”
In addition to over twenty specific recommendations, we proposed four medium-term, structural changes: Balancing the Force, Decentralising the Force, Supplementing the Force, and Streamlining the Force.
The recommendations of the DFC are still relevant, and can be the starting point for reforms in the present instance. We quote liberally:“With regard to manpower, the Police Force should aim at achieving greater ethnic diversity without employing a quota system. To achieve this, ethnically-diverse recruitment teams should be employed as openly and extensively as possible. In terms of developing its leadership core, urgent consideration (should) be given to the creation of a robust cadet training system to produce well-educated officers.
“The Coroners’ Act should be reviewed in its entirety to achieve its high ideals and remedy its current deficiencies and application.
“A Coroner’s office should be administratively established to hold inquests or inquiries where the magistrate or magistrates of any Magisterial District cannot do so. The Office should be staffed with magistrates with national jurisdiction, and should fall under the administrative superintendence of the Chief Magistrate. Coroners should be provided with investigative resources to reduce their dependence on Police investigations. This would enable them to conduct independent investigations.
“During training, emphasis should be placed on the use of the minimum force necessary; this is always to be preferred, even in confrontations with armed and dangerous criminals. Appropriate instruction and training should be given to policemen about the circumstances under which they may resort to the use of the firearm.
“The Police Complaints Authority should be provided with an investigative team consisting of trained police investigators who would be responsible and accountable directly to the Authority.”
Further, it was recommended that attention should be paid to strengthening the Force’s investigative capabilities, and to the establishment of a sound national criminal intelligence system.
Without police reform, economic progress is illusory.
