A case of disobedience, ignorance among junior police ranks

DESPITE the decision of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) at the management level to share the numbers of its senior officers, namely, divisional commanders, deputy commanders, crime officers, traffic officers and sub-divisional officers, there continues to be reluctance on the part of some police ranks to share these numbers with members of the public.In addition, the police have adopted a new measure where even the numbers of station sergeants are posted at police stations so that members of the public could make contact if they are not pleased with the level of service they receive whenever they visit a police station.
Since the implementation of the new measure, this publication has continuously tested the system and found that some police ranks either are disregarding the directive for them to share the numbers of the senior officers, or are not aware of the new directive.
This publication has found that when calls are made to some operations rooms and numbers are requested even for police stations, police ranks manning the telephones would grill callers about their names or where they were calling from.
If that information is not provided, the calls are sometimes disconnected by the ranks or the calls are passed on to other ranks without any explanation; sometimes the persons taking over will ask the nature of the call and provide the number or the calls are disconnected also.
The practice is especially widespread in ‘C’ Division, where if the name of the caller is not provided the calls are disconnected or met with “I am sorry I cannot give out the number for the officer.” This, despite the fact that numbers are in most cases posted at stations for members of the public to access.
The behaviour is not only very prevalent in operations rooms, but also at some police stations. The latest incident occurred on Wednesday, when this newspaper contacted the operations room of ‘A’ Division and the numbers for the Kitty and Alberttown Police Stations were requested.
The call was answered by a female who identified herself as Corporal Noble; the rank asked who was calling and this reporter responded, “A member of the public.” The policewoman then rudely asked, “So because you are a member of the public does that give me the right to give you the number of the police station?” to which this reporter responded in the affirmative.
There was silence for a few seconds then another female came on the line and identified herself as a Sergeant Halley. She enquired what the call was about and when told that “I am trying to secure a number for the Kitty Police Station and Alberttown Police Station,” the police ranks then provided the numbers.
This reporter then related to the senior rank what had transpired on the line before she answered the call and was also informed that the matter will be taken up with the divisional commander.
The issue of police ranks blatantly refusing to provide phone numbers to members of the public, numbers that have been released in the press by force administration, speaks volumes for the efforts being made by senior officers to create an environment for better relations between the members of the public and the force. This effort however continues to be undermined by some junior ranks who in most cases fail to see the bigger picture and the direction in which the force is seeking to go.
In addition, the force is seeking to have more of its work based on intelligence-gathering and would usually assure members of the public of strict confidentiality when such information is passed onto them; but it is not clear how effective that drive could be with the stubborn practice of ranks demanding the names of callers to police stations and operations rooms.
The Guyana Chronicle has in the past raised the issue of police ranks demanding the names of callers and their refusal to share numbers, with Crime Chief Leslie James, Commander Griffith and other senior officers in the past, but the practice continues unabated.

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