Rouge elements in GPF distressing, painful – Top Cop

Acting Commissioner of Police, David Ramnarine on Friday said it is distressing and painful to know that despite all their efforts to build public confidence and have a professional Police Force, there are some ranks who are bent on disgracing the country’s premier law enforcement organisation.
The acting Top Cop made these remarks during a press conference at Eve Leary, in Georgetown.

“It’s distressing that you put so much training into a rank, you’ve taught them so many things. You brought them from an environment where there was a lot of negativity and given them a State uniform, they did well in training school and then for some silly reason or a few dollars more, can do something so outrageous to tarnish the image of a noble institution such as this. It is painful, believe me but the good thing is we can’t lay down and cry about it,” he posited.
Ramnarine was at the time referring to the case of former SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactic) Unit Command, Motie Dookie, who last weekend was bust during a routine roadblock on the Corentyne, smuggling some 30 cases of Johnny Walker whisky into the country from neighbouring Suriname.
The Deputy Superintendent of Police has since been removed as SWAT Command and is now temporarily posted at the Force’s Strategic Planning Unit. SWAT is now under the command of “a gazetted officer who is just as capable and competent as his predecessors”.

Addressing reports that the officer had escaped from custody in Berbice, Ramnarine explained that given Dookie’s rank, it would not have been “uncommon” and “totally improper” for him to leave the barrack room for a few hours and return, which he did.
Nevertheless, such incidents, according to the acting Police Commissioner, not only tarnish the reputation of the Force but also diminishes public confidence, something which the Force has been assiduously trying to build.
“We lost out a bit on public trust and confidence with the disgusting, reprehensible behaviour of some of our own but… we left no stones unturned in ensuring that we could prosecute our own, that we could charge our own because at the end of the day, this organisation has to remain strong and has to continue to serve the people of this country,” he stated.
On the other hand, however, Ramnarine posited that while citizens want to see a professional Police Force, they are the ones who encourage wrongdoings by ranks.
“Over the holiday weekend, I received over a dozen calls from supposedly right-thinking people who are concerned as to when the man would be released, and why y’all can’t give the man a break and all sorts of lawlessness they were telling me. Believe it or leave it, that’s the psyche we have. On the one hand, they wanna see a professional Police Force – they want a Police Force to deliver a higher or better quality of service – but at the same time, they are indifferent to gross wrongdoing. That’s the reality of the society we live in,” the acting Commissioner noted.

Complaints
Meanwhile, the acting Top Cop went on to reveal during the press conference that last year saw the completion of dozens of complaints into grossly unprofessional conduct by ranks – some of whom are before the courts and others before the Police Service Commission (PSC) with regards to disciplinary charges for gazetted ranks.
Noting that the Force’s Administration has been manifestly steadfast and resolute in ensuring that the requisite standard of professionalism is maintained, Ramnarine further disclosed that a total of 31 ranks who committed various infractions were dismissed after they were charged and placed before the courts. This is against 26 dismissals in 2016.
According to the acting Police Commissioner, public trust and the lack therefore, significantly impacts key areas such as confidence, support, respect and cooperation. Hence, the Force’s resolve to ensure that public trust is at an all-time high.
To this end, he posited that the five per cent increase of complaints made to the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) last year indicates that there is also an increase in public confidence in the investigative processes.
Of the 644 complaints made in 2017, 78 per cent has been dealt with. This resulted in eight criminal charges, 187 departmental charges, 49 complaints were unsubstantiated, while another 49 ranks were warned. (Vanhu Manikchand)