CORPORAL Olabesi Johnson has been in the Guyana Police Force for 10 years. When she joined the GPF, she had no say regarding where she would be placed, but she is coping well in the Traffic Department, considered male-dominated.
She said that although her workplace is dominated by male colleagues, it poses no problem to her, since they consider her a big sister and she knows her standing within that group relative to being respected.
She told this publication that her first name, Olabesi, is an African word meaning ‘joy is multiplied’. She said it suits her well because she is a very jovial person.
Olabesi had been stationed at the Brickdam Police Station Traffic Department for five years. She was promoted to Lance Corporal after being adjudged Best Cop in 2011, and her second promotion came later. Johnson was later transferred to the Ruimveldt Police Station, then to the East La Penitence Police Station, where she is currently based as the Licensing and Certifying Officer.
She is widely known in the city as a “straight-up person who cannot be influenced into accepting a bribe”, especially from the minibus fraternity. They have a special name for her that would not be mentioned here. And whenever she is spotted on the GPF-issued motorcycle, minibus operators suddenly become circumspect.
Ms Johnson’s motto is very simple: “You do the crime, you do the time”. Of course, a ticket is issued for most traffic violations.
She says, “It is not about money,” because once drivers are paying a police rank to turn a blind eye to certain things, they can do anything in front of that rank and automatically they own that rank; and that is how disrespect comes about, especially since they talk about these things among themselves.
This upright Police Officer says she starts her day quite early. At 7am, she can be found at Roxanne Burnham Gardens by the New Guyana School, directing traffic up until 8:45am. From 9am to 11am, she is at the East La Penitence Police Station, where she is examining vehicles for fitness; and by 2pm, she is ready to hand out prepared documents — licences, etc.
Ms Johnson added that, no matter where she is, once she observes an offence being committed, she acts.
With that attitude, small wonder she has made more than 10,000 cases. And law-breakers would do well to note that she is not someone to be resisted when effecting an arrest.
At 37, she is in a committed relationship, and said she is working on adding children to that relationship. She is a career-oriented, ambition-driven woman who is not all cop, but has a softer side in that she can take a good joke.
This city girl who was born and raised in D’Uurban Street, Lodge is the eldest of five siblings. She said that after writing CXC at North Ruimveldt Multilateral School, she attended GTI, after which she decided to apply to join the GPF. Four years after applying, she was called by the GPF, and found herself in a batch of 32 female recruits at the Police Training College.
Prior to being called by the GPF, she had a regular job as an assistant to the then supervisor of Pritipaul Singh Fisheries.
She confessed to losing a few friends because of her no-nonsense demeanor as a traffic cop in the Guyana Police Force, but she admits she has gained other friends because of this same attitude.
She says she steadfastly refuses to succumb to the temptation of taking anything as ‘incentive’ for doing her job, noting that she has taken an oath and is very serious about her job, no matter what the consequences.
Johnson advises that one must firstly have respect for self if one desires to be respected by anyone else. She noted that no job is ‘easy’, and with the GPF it is no different; but she says she has conditioned her mind to work, and hard works pays off if one aspires to succeed.
She explained that once a person stands firm in their belief, that person is unlikely to stray from their guiding principles; because, at the end of the day, people’s lives depend on law enforcement officers to enforce the law and do the right thing.
Johnson noted that there is no substitute for the life of any person; a few dollars cannot bring back the life of a person once lost. And she said that once an upright person does the right thing, the deserving consequences will follow.
She aspires to attain the highest rank in the Guyana Police Force, and is determined to continue working assiduously to achieve her goal. With God first, Johnson said, she will succeed. Her motivation comes from knowing that motorists, pedestrians, school children and others depend on her every day to assist them, and she is there to serve the people.
By Michel Outridge
