– reforms expected to be visible by March next year, says top cop

THE Guyana Police Force (GPF) is aiming to have a shorter response time to crimes as more patrols would be dispatched and ranks would be more in tuned with their mandate to serve and protect as part of a wider reform process.

This is according to Commissioner of Police, Leslie James during his first press conference since assuming office close to two months ago.

“As you would have recognised, we are deliberately rolling out a plan which flowed from recommendations, and by March 2019, there will be a much-reformed GPF. Three broad categories are being dealt with and these are human resource management, training and infrastructure,” James told reporters.

The top cop noted that with the upgrade of police stations, citizens can expect a higher quality of service by ranks of the force.

He said under the Citizen Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP), a number of police stations are to be upgraded to reflect modern crime-fighting methods.

“I must report that those stations are outfitted with modern type units, for example, the one-way mirror, units dealing with forensic type interviews, domestic violence, among some others. That is all towards ensuring better interaction between members of the communities and the policemen and women who would be deployed at the various stations. They will be in a much comfortable environment and it will bolster our efforts to give better service to the citizenry,” the commissioner of police said.

One such police station was recently commissioned at Mackenzie, Linden and is being used as the headquarters of “E” Division, Region 10, while another is expected to be commissioned shortly, in Aurora, Region Two.

He said the new GPF hierarchy is also making moves to strengthen the force’s training capacity and has revived several boards it deems important to its growth.

“In terms of our further development, our training institutions across the country: Georgetown, Berbice and Essequibo, they will also see much-needed reform. We have also looked at our training board and at our Traffic Advisory Board among some others. We have sought to re-establish those boards because it was determined that they are very important once this Force is to remain relevant. Even in our Public Relations Department, you will see shortly, a boost in terms of what was recommended to us,” the top cop said.

Meanwhile, the commissioner urged citizens to ensure that they are in compliance with the law, having all documents in hand so that there would be no reason to offer bribes.

“We do not hear of policeman going in any body’s pocket,” he declared. He noted that he has had no report of bribery and corruption, but he would not be dragged into giving an assessment of the level of corruption in the force.

When asked about the issue of tinted vehicles being driven by Joint Services officials and the use of tint on vehicles, the commissioner said the Police Force is working to ensure a level playing field in the use of tints on vehicles.

“I know it is something that keeps recurring and it is something we need to address because there are citizens who feel that they are at a disadvantage where they would see persons who might be policemen or military men who are by themselves carrying tint. And we will examine it and standardise it and once it is standardised, I think the citizens will feel a little better that there is a level playing field,” he said.

Persons who are suffering from a range of health conditions are among those who have been granted approval to use tints on their vehicles.