RANKS of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) stationed at interior locations are specially trained to deal with situations they are likely to face there.

This assurance was given by Public Relations Officer of the GPF, Mr Ivelaw Whittaker, in a letter to the media refuting the allegations made by the President of the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO), Mrs Simona Broomes.

Whittaker said the GPF administration was concerned that Mrs Broomes chose to appeal for resources “by using the distasteful strategy of telling lies.”

An allegation published in an article in the Monday edition of the Kaieteur News accuses the GPF administration of, among other thing, posting to interior locations “those that have been involved in something or the other that is not in keeping with the lawful expectations of a cop.”

Broomes is quoted as saying: “Let me tell you what happens when they are ready to select police to send them into these interior locations: They take a police who misbehaved under supervision; move him from under supervision and send him in the interior, where there is no supervision.”

Whittaker’s replay to the article stated: “The Guyana Police Force has trained 63 ranks of ‘F’ Division (Interior locations), including all the Sub-Divisional Officers and ranks in charge of stations, in Trafficking in Persons, the Sexual Offences Act, the Mining Act, the Forestry Act, the Environmental Protection Act, Domestic Violence, and the Protection of Children Act in order to build their capacity to operate in the division. In addition, another 13 ranks from Police Headquarters, including policewomen who are conducting roving patrols in partnership with Officers of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), have received similar training.”

The GPF’s refutation letter of Mrs Broomes’ claims stated that the GPF administration, being cognizant that the level of supervision for its ranks in the interior is not the same as on the coastland because of the challenges with transportation and communication, and conscious of the significant development that is being undertaken in the interior locations, has been making every effort to ensure that its policing strategies are effective, and that compatible ranks are transferred for duty in those remote areas.

Whittaker said: “The policy of the Police Force to treat with ranks who have committed breaches of discipline and are allowed to continue employment in the Force is to transfer them to locations where they could be properly supervised; and therefore, during 2014, no such person was transferred to remote areas.”

Pointing to other measures the GPF has adopted to increase its effectiveness in interior locations, Whittaker said, “The Guyana Police Force also, in 2014, held a Stakeholders’ Consultation Forum where individuals, including Simona Broomes, who represented the GWMO, Government and Non-Government and Private Sector Organisations were represented, to develop the plan to police the interior, (which) the Guyana Police Force is now implementing. The plan is being implemented in partnership with many of the stakeholders, inclusive of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA).”