MEMBERS of the Guyana Police Force, both serving and retired, gathered at the Central Immigration and Passport Office to wish Assistant Commissioner, Dale Andrew Alves, farewell as he heads into retirement.

Assistant Commissioner Alves has an impressive thirty Four (34) years of service in the Guyana Police Force and functioned in many different areas of the Force such as: the Tactical Services Unit (TSU), Commander ‘G’ Division and Deputy Commander of ‘A’ Division.

The Deputy Chief Immigration Officer who also served as a drill instructor at the Felix Austin Police College during his earlier years in the Force, was referred to by many as the Assistant Commissioner Extraordinaire, and both senior and junior ranks from the Immigration Office fervently expressed admiration and gratitude to the outgoing Assistant Commissioner.

The evening began with laughter and quickly climaxed to a greatly expressed night of elegance, gallanted with words of wisdom and reverberated notes, that the Guest of Honour, Mr. Alves, is a man whose approach, work and character were worthy of emulation.

Commissioner of Police Mr. Seelall Persaud, DSM, noted that Mr. Alves remarkably transitioned from a background in the Tactical Field and was able to adapt and function incredibly well in the area of immigration which requires exceptional people skills and tolerance. He posited that the outgoing Deputy Chief Immigration Officer will be missed and remarked that Mr. Alves was one of the Senior Officers he could have trusted as it relates to getting the job done.

Assistant Commissioner ‘Law Enforcement’ Mr. Paul Williams, Assistant Commissioner ‘Operations’ Mr. Nigel Hoppie DSM, Director of Prisons (ag) Mr. Gladwin Samuels and other serving and retired senior officers of the Guyana Police Force, coherently described Mr. Alves’s thinking as critical and out of the box, they concurred with the nomenclature “The Most disciplined Police in the world” as was touted by Assistant Commissioner ‘Administration’ Mr. Clifton Hicken.

But perhaps the most impacting remarks were those of the staff of the Central Immigration and Passport Office. Through dance and poetry, the ranks sent emotional waves across the room. Using bilingual skills, sharing past experiences and genuinely signaling goodbyes to a great man, in the end, he reciprocated as if he had not done enough…. Thank you artistically expressed.

Assistant Commissioner Dale Andrew Alves proceeded on pre-retirement leave on February 7 and will be officially retired on April 1, 2018. He is succeeded by Senior Superintendent P. Langevine who served as acting Deputy Chief Immigration Officer and Deputy Commander of ‘C’ Division.