COMMANDER of the police ‘A’ Division, Assistant Commissioner Clifton Hicken is calling on members of the public to call him directly on telephone number +592 699 0871 or +592 622 6592 if they believe that they have sensitive information pertaining to illegal activities they are not comfortable sharing with junior police ranks.The divisional commander made the appeal during an interview with the Guyana Chronicle a few days ago, when he pointed out that since the police have been engaging members of the public at the higher level, the organisation has been able to make headway with some very serious and high-profile cases when information was passed on by civilians.
According to Hicken, the force noticed that recently it has been able to confiscate high-powered weapons and arrest high-profile criminals without the use of force and in some cases without the exchange of gunfire. He credited this to the intelligence often received from persons who see the need to make their communities safe and free of persons of devious characters.
“We have been able to seize firearms and in large quantities and high-powered ones while having confrontation with members of the public with very minimal force compared to long ago; and that is because we have been getting intelligence and we have been empowered,” Hicken told this newspaper.
On the issue of the holding of the just concluded National and Regional Elections, Hicken expressed his appreciation to citizens within his division for cooperating with the staff of the Guyana Elections Commission and the police to make the process in ‘A’ Division one which was free of any major incidents.
At the moment, the police are also embarking on its own environmental, internal and exterior cleaning up and according to Hicken, while citizens are clearing the country of garbage, the force, especially ‘A’ Division is weeding out those ranks who have been acting outside the standard operating procedures and bringing the force into disrepute.
At this point in time, Hicken is engaged in several inspections to various police stations within the division, along with his management team and the issues of sanitation, record-keeping and adherence to the standard operating procedures are atop the agenda of the visiting senior ranks.
On Saturday last, the division held a meeting with all drivers who are entrusted vehicles of the state that are being used by the Guyana Police Force ‘A’ Division to execute their duties.
At the meeting, the ranks were reminded that the vehicles are assets of the state and as such they should be properly maintained and handled with care by the respective drivers. The need for proper take-over hand-over systems which are already in place must be adhered to, according to Deputy Commander Dion Moore who addressed the police ranks.
Superintendent Moore also reminded ranks in his discussion with this publication that the force is going through a modernisation process and one of the main issues to ensuring that the process works is the adherence by serving members to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
All police ranks in the division according to Moore, should have in their possession the SOPs and those who do not have, efforts are being made to ensure that they are served with their copies, since they are not expected to claim ignorance whenever they are pulled over the coals for acting outside the SOPs.
The senior officer pointed out too that members of the public will only continue to have a good relationship with the force when they see a professional body, since it fosters the atmosphere for dialogue and communication.
With respect to the issue of patrols, Assistant Superintendent Anthony Austin explained that the mandate of Impact Base with which he is involved, is to conduct rigorous patrols in all areas of the division, especially those high-risk communities.
He pointed out too that the nature of the department sees patrols being done via foot, vehicles and motorcycles. In Albouystown and Agricola there are foot patrols which are complemented by motorcycles and vehicles.
There is a protocol that governs the dispatching of patrols to areas and it also has a lot to do with needs assessment, the ASP noted. A division like all other divisions has a 360 degree posture with respect to patrolling.

By Leroy Smith