DAYS after Opposition spokesman Clement Rohee urged that the promotion of police ranks be put on hold due to a number of pending disciplinary matters, the Police Service Commission (PSC) has done just so, but is insisting that the list of nominees for elevation reached that constitutional body late.Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud, in an immediate reaction, said the delay will impact negatively on the Guyana Police Force and its ranks.
Rohee had charged that, among other ranks, Assistant Police Commissioner David Ramnarine had pending disciplinary matters – a charge the police dismissed, saying they do not know what the former Home Affairs Minister is talking about. Rohee has a longstanding battle with Ramnarine, and observers believe that this might have influenced his call.
Persaud told a news conference on Wednesday at his office that a letter confirming the decision by the PSC to put on hold the promotions reached his desk late on Tuesday afternoon. He told reporters that the reason behind the move is unknown to the Guyana Police Force. The letter, according to the Top Cop, indicated that the promotion list would be announced on or before the 23 February, 2016.
The Commissioner could not immediately say how many names were submitted by the police to the service commission for consideration for promotion. Asked if the Force is looking to challenge the service commission to release the promotion list at the traditional time, which is at the end of the year, the CoP reminded that the Police Service Commission is a constitutional body.
The media was told that the Police Service Commission started interviewing persons since in October of this year, and all sergeants and officers were interviewed. He said he does not know the PSC’s reason behind the delay, but he was quick to point out that there are former senior officers of the Force who are also on the commission and who know very well how such a delay would impact on the morale of the Force.
Persaud also was not shy in expressing his disappointment at the delay, and also said he was confident that his ranks felt the same way also, as they would have preferred to know whether they had been promoted rather, than not knowing at all.
The Police Service Commission is responsible for promoting senior police officers from the ranks of Sergeant to that of Assistant Commissioner of Police. Persaud said there are two promotion boards within the Guyana Police Force: One deals with ranks at the level of corporal to sergeants — this board is referred to as the Junior Promotion Board; while the Senior Promotion Board looks into recommendation for promotion of persons from the rank of Sergeants to Assistant Commissioners of Police. And this board is headed by the Police Commissioner.
Rohee’s calls
Rohee, in his call for the PSC to place the promotion of senior police officers on hold, had stated that this was necessary as the commission was investigating several disciplinary matters, including one with Ramnarine.
Rohee had also spoken about former magistrate Cecil Sullivan heading some dubious investigating team. Asked if the Force was aware of Sullivan’s role, Persaud reminded that the responsibility for investigating police officers falls under the purview of the Police Complaints Authority.
“The only unit which investigates members of the Force is the Police Complaints Authority; I don’t know of any other. Former Magistrate Sullivan was appointed by I don’t know who. What he was doing is that the Police Service Commission is responsible for appointing and disciplining officers from Inspectors to Assistant Commissioners. Now, the law says that they can have the commissioners do that, or they can ask the Police Force to do so. Mr. Sullivan does not fit anyway in there,” the top cop stated.
Persaud said it was unfortunate that all these issues are now surfacing at a time when the promotions of the ranks are close, and that it was very disappointing.
No charge against Ramnarine
He did say, however, that based on the little he is aware of, Mr. Sullivan was conducting a disciplinary inquiry on behalf of the Police Service Commission “but the Force never received any information that a recommendation was put forward for Assistant Commissioner of Police, David Ramnarine, to be issued with a charge sheet; and further checks with Ramnarine discovered that there is presently no charge sheet in his file.
“And on that behalf, I made the statement yesterday. We are not aware that there is any pending disciplinary action. There might have been an investigation, but it did not result in any charge. There is no disciplinary matter, and it is unfortunate that it comes at a time when promotion is in the air, and then the former mister is also saying that the promotion should be delayed. That only impacts negatively against the Police Force, and the Service Commission played right into his hands,” the CoP explained.
Contacted for a comment on the issue Wednesday afternoon, Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Omesh Satyanand, confirmed that he had indicated to the administration of the Force that the promotional list would not be announced on January 01, 2016.
The chairman said that decision was taken on December 21 at a specially convened meeting with the commissioners after they had received the recommendation list for promotion from the Police Force.
In essence, the Police Service Commission is stating that its decision to announce the promotion of the officers was arrived at long before the statements made by Rohee.
It was also stated that on the same day that the list came from the police, the commission was having its statutory meeting, and, as such, that matter could not have been dealt with.
That date was given as December 14, 2015. The Commission Chairman, however, said it was not impossible for the commission to make the list ready by January 15, 2016, but its members just want to ensure that they have enough time to peruse the files of those police officers who are to be promoted, as the commission has to be mindful that the right persons are placed to fill the vacancies that currently exist within the Force.
Additionally, the chairman said the Police Service Commission wanted to ensure that the list that would be put out as the final product is clean and creditable, hence the need for the commission to take requisite time.
