The Police Association has expressed concern amidst all the recent allegations of infractions by members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) such as excessive use of force, complicity in robberies etc. Of course the most recent incident was the unfortunate death of the Patentia Secondary schoolboy in which it is alleged a policeman was responsible. A release from the Association stated: “The Executive of the Police Association wishes to categorically state that its members are not immune from citizens’ oversight while discharging their duties in keeping with the Police Force’s mandate as the premier law enforcement organisation.”
“Further, the Executive does not and will not condone the actions of those members who are involved in any form of lawlessness and criminality and wishes to emphasize that its members must continue to respect and protect human rights such as the right to life and dignity of the individual; as well as the exercise of democratic freedoms including freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention and impartiality in the administration of the law.”
“Towards this end members of the Executive body of the Police Association have began to visit ranks at Police Stations in the various Police Divisions stressing the importance of professionalism, discipline, human rights, the use of force, the rights of the child, as well as the commitment to Constitutional and moral values for mutual respect in the provision of service to the communities.”
“The Association believes that any violation should be met with the appropriate sanction, once the member concerned has been found culpable after due process, and is supportive of the efforts of the Administration of the Force to curb such behaviour by dealing condignly with errant ranks.”
“Finally the Executive would like to call on the majority of its members who continue to perform in keeping with their Oath of Office, ensuring the preservation of Law and Order while effectively recording successes in the fight against crime, to incorporate and demonstrate ethical competence in the discharge of their duties.”
This is indeed laudable and would be welcomed by the entire society because internal and self-criticism from within is always helpful for any organisation in its thrust to become more efficient and professional in its operations and discharge of its duties and responsibilities.
However, merely expressing concern or condemnation will not remove the problems. Something tangibly needs to be done and in this regard, according to the release, members of the executive of the Association have started visiting ranks stressing the importance of professionalism, respect for human rights etc. This is a good step but rather than wait until allegations are made and then react to the situation such visits should become routine and part of a continuous programme to ensure professionalism within the GPF.
Also during training of recruits greater emphasis and focus should be placed on professionalism because it is apparent that many of the infractions by police officers stem from a lack of professionalism. US Police Officers today have to be experts both in hard skills of traditional policing and in communication
skills. To communicate effectively is to be skilled in the overt and the subtle, to make one’s intentions known whether the recipient is deaf, unable to understand English, mentally handicapped, enraged, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or simply unfamiliar with normal police procedure.
In the past, training in the “hard skills” of policing sought primarily to improve physical prowess. An emphasis on only these hard skills of policing causes the officer on the street to be ill-equipped to meet
the demands of public service today. To be sure, police officers continue to need the traditional skills of policing. To be responsive to today’s needs requires integrating community policing and diversity awareness throughout training and understanding that use of force, arrest procedures, and search and seizure require a skillful blend of communications and physical ability. The focus here is therefore how best to imbue today’s police officer with the totality of the expertise needed to serve society well.