THE rogues in the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force, as well as the Prison Service have been, for a long time, committing acts that run counter to the mandate of Guyana’s security services, much to the angst of the public, the embarrassment of the organisations in which they serve, the frustration of senior officers and Government officials, and the shame of the truly dedicated and hard-working members of Guyana’s joint services.

Until and unless serious action is taken by the authorities to weed out and seriously sanction the perpetrators and re-establish the criteria for dealing with members of the public in the various areas of engagements, the trust of the society in the entire security institution would remain compromised.

A while ago, a couple belonging to prominent families carefully and methodically staged a kidnapping scenario designed to punish parents with whom they had disagreements.

Those were adults, one a member of a very respected profession, so expectations of responsible behaviour in such persons were very high, and that is why everyone was convinced that they had been kidnapped.

A nationwide manhunt, causing much expenditure of taxpayers’ dollars, resulted in great anger and angst in communities targeted for police searches – communities which, because of activities in the very recent past, are always suspect in such instances, but which in this case were justifiable in claiming innocence of any culpability in the disappearance of the couple.

After days during which the entire nation prayed for the safe return of this attractive professional couple while the parents agonized over their fate, they coolly sauntered back, without any remorse for the agony, inconvenience, and angst that they had caused to their parents and the entire nation, not to mention the waste of man hours and precious resources of Guyana’s security services.

Was this not a crime, so why was no retribution meted out to the culprits?

Subsequently, teenager Amanda Rampersaud disappeared from her parents’ home, presumably kidnapped by another teenager who had been provided sanctuary in the home.

Several days later Jasoda Mahase, the teenager who had been provided sanctuary by Amanda’s parents was reported missing by her parents.

The name of the presumed kidnapper, who is an adult, although a teenager, was never mentioned in the press, but any discerning person can read between the lines and recognise that this was a staged scenario, as was proven when the facts of the matter came under public scrutiny.

The male accomplice of the kidnapper ran away when the police showed up with the mother when she turned up with the ransom demanded, but the parents refuse to press charges against the kidnapper.

Kidnapping is a serious criminal offence, and this woman can identify her accomplice, so why have the police abdicated their responsibility and not press charges against the culprits?

Henry Greene is Commissioner of Police and not Naresh or Sally Rampersaud, so why are they allowed to decide whether or not prosecution should be pursued on a very serious criminal offence such as kidnapping?

Some time back a couple of schoolboys staged the kidnapping of one in order to get money from the parents.  All the while the teenager had been comfortably ensconced in a shack on the railway embankment, presumably with the full knowledge and complicity of the adult occupants.

Persons drink and drive, or speed recklessly on the highways, kill someone else, and are allowed to live their own lives after “settling” the matter.

One reads of many instances where the police do not press charges because of a private arrangement between plaintiff and defendant; but since when does civil society determine the considerations driving police actions?

Many times this inaction on the part of police leads to subsequent devastating consequences, as in cases when they choose not to prosecute cases of rape, assault, causing injury and even death by driving dangerously, among others.

The Chronicle has been pursuing the phenomenon of members of the judiciary and magistracy sending away persons charged with serious criminal offences with a mere tap on the wrists, resulting in many instances of the perpetrators repeating the offence, often with tragic consequences to their victims.

Ralph Ramkarran wrote a moving feature on the fallout of such laxity, drawing an example from an agonizing scenario – one of hundreds – told and untold.

Roshan Khan of RK Security Services and Johnny Kowlessar of Pavnik Press, very respected members of the society, as well as hundreds of persons all across Guyana, have been trying to get some relief from serious noise pollution that is affecting so many aspects of their lives and lifestyles, with no success whatsoever.

If influential members of the entrepreneurial fraternity cannot receive justice in this society, what can the average citizen hope to achieve by complaining to the police?

There is a church in Adelphi, East Canje that awakens neighbours, some of whom work night shifts and need their morning sleep, every day with cacophonous shouting, stamping and tromping over loudspeakers.  Children who study late in the nights for exams and need that extra sleep find themselves being fatigued before their schoolday is over.

Sundays, which are supposed to be a day of peaceful relaxation for families who pursue their various working and education-acquisition activities all week, have become days of exquisite torture as places of worship of various denominations rock the earth to gain the ears of the Lord;  but God is not deaf.

He can even hear your prayers even before they are formulated.  Ranting and raving would only cause pain and discomfort to people who need their peace. They are not God and don’t need to hear anyone’s supplications.

On many occasions, as aforementioned, wife abusers or child molesters; or even persons who have had disputes – violent or otherwise, but which are criminal in nature, are allowed to “settle” the matter.  Children need society and the law to be their voice, women are most often psychologically, emotionally and/or financially dependent on their abusers and thus unable to be decisive in matters where they need to prosecute their abusers. In these instances it is the mandate of the police to protect the vulnerable persons and reject their plea for mercy for their abusers.

Oftentimes traffic offenders, including drunk drivers, are allowed to walk away with merely a figurative rap on the knuckles; sometimes after paying a ‘raise’ to the traffic cop, some of whom have made policing a business venture, pulling in thousands of dollars every day.

The police mandate is “to protect and serve,” and allowing culprits to break the laws with impunity can, and often do, result in disastrous consequences.  Many drivers drink and drive, eventually ending up killing someone. The implications of “settling” criminal matters between private parties are many and varied, not least is causing the public to wonder how far did the “payoff” extend.

Director of Prisons, Dale Erskine, heads a volatile organisation with scant resources and manpower, and he is managing exceedingly well, given the constraints.  But the problems of the Prison Service are compounded by rogue prison officers, some of whom smuggle prohibited substances, including dangerous narcotics, into the various institutions countrywide that house Guyana’s most dangerous felons.

For the mistakes and/or
wrongdoings of a few mavericks, the entire Police Force is often pilloried and sanctioned by the sanctimonious and hypocritical opportunists in the society, who hardly ever give credit to the hard and unremitting work in grueling, often life-threatening conditions under which the Police serve.

The fact that many are killed in the line of duty is testimony to the dire nature of their occupation, and if a perpetrator gets hurt in an encounter, all the political opportunists crucify them, but no-one comes out to condemn the criminals who wantonly waste the lives of Guyana’s police, who are themselves mothers, fathers, siblings, children, spouses.  It is as if the members of the Police Force have no rights.

But the actions of the mavericks in Guyana’s security services redound to the disgrace of the respective organisations in which they serve.

So there needs to be a holistic approach to the crime fight in the country, involving members of the joint services and members of civil society, so that the security services can maintain the honour of the various joint service organizations; and the nation they are supposed to serve, over and above any other, is provided the protection of a national security construct in which the people can repose absolute trust.