WHEN I learnt that the Guyana Police Force is celebrating its 172nd anniversary, I reached for a book with which I am familiar. I happened upon that book many, many years ago when I started a series of short stories based on the history of Guyana. One of the stories for which I use the book extensively focused on the resistance of people to colonial oppression and other forms of subjugation, discrimination and disenfranchisement. For that particular story, I used material from the more familiar riots and disturbances like the ‘1856 RIOTS’, the ‘BERBICE RIOTS’, ‘SKELDON RIOTS’, the ‘UITVLUGT RIOTS’, the ‘TADJAH RIOTS’, the ‘CENT BREAD RIOTS’, the ‘1905 STRIKE’, the ‘RUIMVELDT RIOTS’, the ‘LEONORA RIOTS’, and the ‘ENMORE RIOTS’. This extensive listing of those incidents is not without rationale. This listing was influenced by the exacting nature and chronological historical pattern of the book. Those characteristics of the book were manifestations of the author, who was at one time or the other associated with the best in the business; the people and/or their work, including Sister Mary Noel Menezes, William Arthur Orrett (author of the ‘History of British Guiana Police’), Mohamed Shahabuddeen, and Joel Benjamin. 
‘HISTORY OF POLICING IN GUYANA’ runs to 245 pages of solid research. Putting the book into context, the reader will find a foreword by Balram Raghubir, a preface by the author, an appendix, four pages of notes, a bibliography, and a 27-page index, all lending validity to the work.
The table of contents is elaborate: Each of the twelve chapters is divided into various subject areas, a researcher’s delight.
The book is not all about riots and disturbances; the book, according to the author in his preface,  is about “aspects of history which are considered unimportant by many because they concern facts of a small sector of the total community of an organisation, and sometimes referred to as Institutional History.
“This book falls exactly in this category, but I am convinced that although it reports on one of many existing institutions, the historical account of the Guyana Police Force is interlaces with the history of Guyana as a whole, and to such an extent, that without it, history of the country would be far from complete.”
Further, the book is aptly described by Balram Raghubir as one which “contains an indepth (sic) research into the history of the Guyana Police Force, from its establishment in 1839 to the nineteen sixties…The contents are factual and stimulating…The Force has a proud history. Proud because it has come a long way from the days of near illiteracy to a highly professional and competent service.”
‘History of Policing in Guyana’ is an intriguing read, jewelled with fascinating anecdotes. Here is one example which I will quote verbatim from the book: 
“During 1955, the Police was virtually stunned by a most unusual report of a stow-away. A radio report was received from a Man-o-War (Royal Naval Vessel) which had left the Country and passed the beacon that there was a stowaway on board. The vessel made its way back to port with the prisoner, who was deformed in both legs, compelling him to walk on his knees. He was, however, no invalid; he was well known for the performance of acrobatic feats and feats of strength for which he was nicknamed Mighty Joe Young.”
The author was a man of substance and multitalented — artist, playwright, actor, poet and editor.  John Campbell published eight books of poems. In one collection, ‘Our Own Poems’, he catered for the taste of children. He also published a study on obeah, a collection of famous murder stories, and an anthology which comprised of poems, short stories and a play.
He has to his name a collection of five one-act plays which included ‘Come Back to Melda’, ‘Dhanwattie’, ‘No Way’, ‘Cuffy the Brazen’ and ‘Marriage for Convenience’.
‘Writers in Uniform’, which he prepared for Carifesta ’72, may be one of a kind in our history, encompassing three genres of writing — poetry, short-story and play. His magus opus, ‘History of Policing in Guyana’, was published in 1987.
(To respond to this author, either call him on (592) 226-0065 or send him an email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com)