NOTWITHSTANDING the many criticisms about the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the most recent from its Commissioner of Police Leslie James – who spoke about removing “corrupt’’ elements from within its ranks, while threatening punitive measures against members of the public, those who attempt to bribe his policemen/women – the Force has undergone qualitative changes since 2015, which augurs well for a better functioning organisation that is being gradually positioned to function professionally. For these efforts, it must be lauded, as its reforming efforts are bearing good fruit.

We hasten to add, the fact the Commissioner has publicly revisited a sore point of the GPF’s functioning over the years, underlines the seriousness with which raising the Force’s professional standards is being taken, especially given President’s David Granger’s admonition that he expects the current leadership of the GPF to implement the British-funded Security Sector Reform Programme(SSRP).

It is undeniable that the GPF, as a State institution, would not have been affected by the descent of Guyana into the abyss of bad governance, as exemplified by the former PPP/C administration, out of which the criminal State emerged as its darkest example. That kind of government definitely does/did not manage a State along the lines of the Rule of Law; strict accountability; and professionalism in the daily functions of State organs.

Therefore, in that kind of socio-economic-political environment, which had been the grim experience of this nation during the PPP/C’s tenure of office – the norm of political interference in the decision- making process of State institutions, inclusive of the police force, became the established fact of State bureaucratic behaviour.

One has to appreciate the nature of an institution such as a law enforcement agency, to comprehend its operational functions and eventual success in waging successful crime fighting can only occur by its adherence to its Standard Operating Procedures, which means upholding the highest traditions of law enforcement professional standards.

Inherent in this very important practice will be, first, the Force’s ability to carry out its command functions without any interference or intrusion from the State; and second, its right to confront or deal with any citizen, regardless of status, race, or political affiliation, once there is just cause.

It must also be a reminder to citizens that the functions of the GPF, as of any other constituted law enforcement body, is not only to prosecute common criminals, but also to be concerned with those persons within the society who have the proclivity of making statements that are designed to subvert the national peace for the purpose of inciting or fomenting hostilities. There can be no argument that the latter, if ignored, can have very dire consequences for the particular society where it occurs, given Guyana’s specific socio-political challenges. Thus, no police force that understands its broader national responsibility for the maintenance of law and order will fail to inquire, in whatever way it considers necessary, by interviewing the source(s) of such a threat.

Certainly, given the new trajectory of the GPF, which it has, since the current administration has taken the helm, been undergoing the transitional experience of non-interference in its professional functions; it fully understands that it has the full authority to interview the Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition, or any other citizen, concerning inflammatory statements, or any related activity, made during the party’s commemoration event at Babu Jaan last March.

It would be another of this leader’s well-known attempts at misleading the nation into believing that he was not aware that his dangerously reckless statements at Port Mourant are the type that would certainly attract the attention of the police, for which it would need no prompt, order, or instruction from the coalition government, or any of its constituent parts, as he contends. He is subjected to the laws, as any other citizen, and should answer for any of its infringement.

Since 2015, our police force is much more of a respected institution; that is. not asking any within the executive, how high any of its commanders has “to jump, “as boastfully said in the media years ago. It executes it functions in an entirely professional manner, designed for results that are wholly in keeping with the welfare of the nation.