Regional Police Division 4C cops GPF’s debate competition championship title

Regional Division 4C’ emerged victorious in the final round of the Guyana Police Force’s Justice Horace Mitchell Debate Competition after a heated exchange of arguments on Saturday night at the Police Officers’ Mess Annexe in Eve Leary, Georgetown.
The debate moot was “Drinking and Driving: Police presence outside of entertainment hotspots such as bars, restaurants, hotels, etc., in every Region increases the police ability to prevent incidents of drunk driving and decrease fatal accidents.”

The Regional Division 4’C team, consisted of female Sergeant Oxana Johnson, female Corporal Makisha Jordan, and Constable Kenrick Philips who received the best speaker award, argued that such a measure would be an ineffective and heavy-handed approach, reasoning that a more holistic and comprehensive community-based solution was needed to address the root causes of drunk driving.
The proposing team ‘The Traffic Headquarters’, consisting of Corporal Timothy Roberts Woman Constable Luckie Providence, and Constable Alex McPherson, argued passionately for the implementation of increased police presence in entertainment hotspots to combat the scourge of drunk driving.
Meanwhile, Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken during his remarks about the competition revealed that the debate competition will be held more frequently.
“We are not going to do debates annually anymore; we are going to do it quarterly. That by itself will improve our public speaking capability and capacity, which is important for policemen and women when we are interacting with members of the public.”

In fact, he stated that this frequent competition will see participation from most levels of the force.
“We will have debates at the constable level, at the lance corporal, at the sergeant inspectors, and more importantly at the cadet level. This, if done, will build capacity within the organisation within a framework so that within the next year or two we will find eloquence at all levels of the Guyana Police Force. We must be able to pick any rank to speak on behalf of the police force,” he stated.
Impressed by the level of competition, Commissioner Hicken commended the members of the teams for their efforts, noting that they would have performed their duties and still found time to do research.