We are grateful for our frontline Police officers

Dear Editor,
In this day and age, when the situation we all find ourselves in with COVID-19 pandemic and knowing every single person across our nation and regions has given up a great deal, we all know people and families who have made significant sacrifices because of this virus and the unpresented times we are experiencing.
The extraordinary national effort made by our President and his team has been quite remarkable, and I am grateful to everybody for playing their part. However, I am particularly grateful to you, the people of Region 10, and our outstanding frontline Police officers and volunteers, who continue to do an exceptional job in keeping our streets safe.
You enforce COVID-19 protective guidelines and still respond to all types of crimes, working tirelessly to protect the vulnerable. Police agencies all over the country are facing unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These challenges are at the same time related to complex and large-scale activities that the Police are asked to perform, and to the changing nature of the Police role during the pandemic.
Although health workers are in the frontline, the Police are involved in every stage of the response, and remain the main interface with the residents, to answer their questions and solve their problems. Police services are overwhelmed by extra missions due to the emergency: enforcing public health orders, including quarantines or travel restrictions; securing health care facilities; controlling crowds; assisting with handling education, and risk communication.
The coordination of the response is not spontaneous, as the Police may not have previously worked with most of the agencies with whom they should coordinate their response plan, including public health, medical officials, and other critical infrastructures providers.
While the role of the Police during security threats and emergencies is generally well defined, it is far from clear during a COVID-19 pandemic, adding another layer to the complexity of the Police response. Actually, unlike public health services, most of the national response plans to combat COVID-19 don’t consider the role of the Police, or only make a little mention of it in wide and general terms. Generally, it is mentioned that, in addition to the usual duties, the Police have a role in supporting the fight against the disease, and protecting people from contamination. This secondary role attributed to the Police can also be seen in the additional financial and other types of support reserved for the Police by the Government, as compared to other agencies, particularly those working on the health response. The role of the Police also changes as the context of the pandemic changes and the needs of the people(residents) and the Government evolve. For example, the courts can prioritise certain cases at the expense of others according to the situation, which will impact Police decisions about offences that should be prosecuted and the files that should be investigated.
The needs of the Police staff and the capacity of the organisation can also change during the pandemic, as they and their families can be hit by the pandemic, at least in the same proportion as the rest of the residents.
Therefore, planning the Police response to COVID-19 is extremely important to address evolving issues related to the preparedness, response, and the recovery from the pandemic.
The importance of the planning lies also in the reputational risks that the Police can potentially have during the response to the pandemic, knowing that the measures taken today would
impact the future relationship between the Police and the people after the pandemic.
The Police Force should also look to the non-harmful effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare its response to better position itself to enhance its service to the people of Guyana. The Police should consider the windows of opportunity that can be opened during the pandemic at the political and social levels. For example, in Region #10, there are no cameras set up on the main streets of downtown Linden. Poor lighting in many areas makes it difficult for the Police on duty to perform their jobs. These are just a few things that the region should look into while our Government introduce some critical reforms, such as the digital transformation of the Police management, and innovation in investigation procedures that can sustainably and positively impact the development of the Police in every region, once the pandemic is safely behind us.

Sincerely,
David Adams