ANY police force, as a law enforcement agency should always be perceived by those whom it has sworn to protect, as ideal. After all, since it has been constituted to protect society against criminal perpetrators of all kinds, it is understood to be an undeniable representative of the law, prepared always to uphold its tenets without fear or favour; an expectation that every law-abiding citizen should have of their national police force, no more or less.

But, such utopian understanding of police forces has gradually been dissipated with the passage of time, in so many regions, due to reasons which have become universal. Of course, wherever the Rule of Law is observed, condign action is automatically taken, reflecting not only society’s condemnation, but also the law’s uncompromising stance against those who run afoul of the laws.

A police force is seminally important in any state where it is established for the principal purpose of maintaining law and order. Its functions, wherever it exists, are expected to constitute the embodiment of society’s morality in terms of what it purports to represent as a nation.

Most important, is that its corps of personnel are to be seen and expected as absolute in their daily functions, ensuring that there is no compromise as to their executions of their mandate as law enforcement officers.

This means that every police officer, male and female, from the junior to the most senior rank, is expected to be above board, in his/her integrity in the investigation of whatever type of crime that becomes their remit.

Such an expectation guarantees a proper and full investigation, free from inducements such as bribes and other forms of corrupt practices which will ensure appropriate charges and prosecution, and the certainty of judicial conviction against the person accused.

Any police force, and by extension its allied agencies whose officers allow themselves to be compromised, by seeking favours, or accepting same in return for a certain outcome or course of action, is guilty of the serious offence of perverting the course of justice. In abetting this, it means a wrongdoer is allowed to escape justice, with every opportunity to re-offend.

No person with such an outlook and understanding of policing, and who in the course of his/her duties, offend the very oath in upholding the law, ought to be spared serious judicial sanction. He/she is not worthy to be a representative of the law in any sphere of its execution.

Since 2015, and with the scale of the massive state corruption in all forms, being unearthed by way of audits, there have been numerous initiatives that are being implemented in re-fashioning the Guyana Police Force in removing itself from a past that had made its methodology and operations come under daily scrutiny and questioning by the public. And this has assumed an even greater urgency, given the numerous cases that are currently engaging its investigative arms such as the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), and the Special Assets Recovery Agency(SARA).

The current, British-sponsored two-week workshop on fraud, bribery and corruption, is another segment of its multi-billion-dollar Security Sector Reform Programme, requested by the government of Guyana, which is designed to effect a new-look Guyana Police Force.

There are participants from four principal state security agencies, inclusive of the Customs and Anti-Narcotics Agency(CANU), and the Criminal Investigations Department(CID), attending this course, that is not only timely for a better understanding of the criminal dynamics of bribery and corruption, but also a reminder as to how pivotal is their role in executing proper investigative strategies in combatting such challenges.

Corruption in any state is a challenge to the national well-being.  Among its most known manifestations are bribery, fraud and money laundering, chronic attributes of the criminal state in Guyana that are gradually being dismantled. But when it becomes a deep-set malaise, to the point of becoming a part of the operational fabric of any police force, then serious action has to be taken with regards re-forming the core ethical values and esprit de corps of such a key institution.

We are reminded by the words of the British High Commissioner, Greg Quinn that, “There is no place for corruption within the security agencies in Guyana. If individuals cannot work with honesty and integrity then they should be drummed out, prosecuted and imprisoned as necessary”.

In fact, rogue cops are already being removed from the precincts of the Guyana Police Force; but such a forthright statement must also serve as a grim reminder and warning to those engaged in the current endeavour, as well as to other personnel.