‘Best Cop’ Garvin Boyce, man on a mission

SERGEANT Garvin Boyce, the recent recipient of the Best Cop of ‘A’ Division award has certainly earned the title, having racked up more than 1,000 traffic cases. But this hard-working man of the law isn’t just the ‘best cop’ but is an exceptional law enforcement officer with an excellent demeanour.

He is the subordinate Officer-in-Charge of the Traffic Department at Brickdam. For Boyce, he is accustomed to working around the clock since he is all about ensuring citizens go about their business in a safe and secure manner while maintaining the free flow of vehicular traffic in the city.

The father of one told the Pepperpot Magazine that the Christmas/ post-Christmas season is a busy time for traffic cops to man the flurry of shoppers in the downtown areas of the city.

He related that depending on the crowd some roads were closed to vehicular traffic to facilitate shopping.

He stated that all major city roads were manned by traffic ranks during this busy period and asked citizens to exercise patience and use the roads in the safest manner.

Boyce pointed out that they are aiming for stagnant-free roads during this period because if there is congestion the recipe is ripe for armed robberies, and they do not want that but citizens needs to be alert when conducting business with large sums of cash.

The traffic ranks on foot as well as on motorcycles are on the roads at this time monitoring traffic. Boyce noted that at this time of the year, ranks are strategically placed on the roads not to arrest people for minor traffic offences but to issue warnings unless it is a serious instance.

Boyce added that because he is a cop, his family understands that he works long hours and is always on call and there is no such thing as a day-off because he has about 45 ranks under his command.

“If you like what you do for a job you will enjoy it but if you are just working because you don’t have a choice it will be a burden and my family understands the functions of being a policeman,” he said.

Boyce is on-the-go all the time and since he is a ‘people person’ he likes to visit the various bus parks and interact with drivers because it requires a collaborative effort to reduce accidents and fatalities on the roads.

“The police alone cannot monitor traffic but if you observe the basic road safety practices it is a ‘give and take’ issue because the police will not harass you unnecessarily, you have to give them reason,” he said.

The 37-year-old cop has been in the Guyana Police Force for 15 years and was assigned to anti-crime patrol throughout the country before he joined the Traffic Department.

For Boyce, being a Station Sergeant for about 10 police stations, the Traffic Departments fall under his guidance and it is not an easy task of delegating work to ranks. In fact, he admitted that he feels that he spends more time at work than at home.

He said the job of a traffic rank is difficult at times since they usually have to be firm with drivers and he would make time to have a one-on-one with them to advise because some of them are very aggressive toward traffic cops.

Being the Best Cop did not come as a surprise but Boyce credits his success to the senior officers who guided him and his colleagues who in their own ways supported him.

“The ranks I worked with encouraged me and I needed that extra push and based on that I was motivated to perform in a humble manner and my success is all about team effort because I could not do it alone,” he said.

Boyce explained that he came from modest beginnings working as a construction worker before he joined the Guyana Police Force and because of that, he said that he will remain humble and do his work as normal and see where it leads.

He is the recipient of trophies, incentives, a trip to Kaieteur Falls, and dinner at Duke Lodge for being the best cop.

A typical day for Boyce starts very early since traffic builds up quite early during this festive period and he is at work at least by 06:00hrs and leaves office late at night and there are several activities for this period as well so he has his work cut.

His real passion, however, is social work with youths and he tries to reach out to them as a mentor, something he would like to continue.