…Min. Ramjattan urges ranks
…vows sterner action against reckless police drivers

STERN actions will be taken against rogue cops, who are bent on abusing the use of sirens and continue to engage in the reckless use of the country’s roadways resulting in accidents, some – deadly.

Vice-President and Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, made the comments on Wednesday when he appeared on Insight – a Voice of Guyana Radio Programme. He said however, that everyone must play their part if the number of accidents on the country’s roadways is to be reduced significantly. Noting that he is still deeply hurt by the Friendship, East Bank Demerara (EBD) accident, which claimed the lives of five persons on October 15, 2019, the Public Security Minister said that policeman – Ronel Barker, who was driving one of the vehicles involved in the accident, could have demonstrated greater care, caution and consideration.

Barker was on duty at the time. Surveillance footage of the accident, captured motorcar PPP 515 moving at a moderate pace when a police vehicle with flashing lights, slammed head on into it. On the point of impact, the police vehicle spun several times before coming to a halt in a nearby drain. Only two persons survived the accident.
Though confirming that a Board of Inquiry Report on the deadly accident has been handed over to President David Granger, Minister Ramjattan did not divulge the contents of the report but said the recommendations will be acted upon as promised by the Head of State. The report, which was compiled by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Paul Williams, with support from Senior Superintendents Calvin Brutus and Linden Isles, addressed the use of sirens by police and other emergency vehicles.

RECKLESSNESS
According to Minister Ramjattan, it was “recklessness” that caused the Friendship accident. He said though police officers have been continuously cautioned about their use of sirens, some, nonetheless, abuse the system.

He recalled that in 2017, after the Guyana Police Force was gifted with a fleet of vehicles from the People’s Republic of China, one of the vehicles was involved in an accident along the Canefield, East Canje, Berbice public road due to reckless driving.
Minister Ramjattan noted that the accident had occurred shortly after he had warned the law enforcement officers, that money would be deducted from their salaries for damage to the vehicles involved in accidents. He said, however, that since the October 15 Friendship accident, police men and women have been “changing their bad habits.”

“A number of them have changed. I have seen that. Since that last accident at Friendship, there have been instructions that have gone out; please do not abuse your siren just to be master of the road. There have been quite visible developments there,” the Public Security Minister said.

According to him, the use of police vehicles and sirens would be constantly monitored to ensure police officers are adhering to established rules and regulations that have been put in place to promote road safety.

In ordering the inquiry into the accident, President Granger had said that steps will also be taken to ensure that regulations and Standing Operating Procedures are upheld. He said too that emphasis will be placed on inspections and the careful selection and training of drivers.

Minister Ramjattan, in his discourse, said added to that, the Guyana Police Force would have to employ the use of technologies such as transponders to monitor the use of its vehicles. He is also calling on the public to report any abuse of the force’s resources. “We also have to have a public that is scrutinising. Whenever you see them (driving recklessly) report it…video record it,” Minister Ramjattan urged the public, while noting “they (the rogue cops) will be dealt with.”

He disclosed that as a result of reports filed by citizens against rogue cops, 48 of them have had their services terminated, and as such, are no longer in the police force.
But the Public Security Minister admitted that the use of road by police officers is part of the problem, he said some members of the public are guilty of recklessly using the country’s roadways, which have also resulted in loss of limb, life and damage to property.
“The important point is, we have to have individual responsibility on the part of drivers, but more than that, we have to have people in the vehicle, who would notice that indeed the driver is going too fast, is reckless, and sometimes they don’t speak out against that driver to plead with him, ‘stop that! You are going too fast’ – that can also help,” Minister Ramjattan said.

He said while the government has a “huge role to play,” the road users have an important role to play as well. “We have to have better infrastructure, our roads should be wider, they should be well painted, signage all across the place, but even in places in Guyana, where there have been that kind of infrastructure, we still notice accidents happening and very fatal ones too, to the extent that the contributing cause or the main cause being recklessness on the part of drivers or total recklessness on the part of pedestrians, so it requires a coordinated effort, and integrated effort on the part of everybody,” the Public Security Minister explained.

According to the Guyana Police Force, the leading causes of traffic mishaps in the country are speeding and driving while under the influence of alcohol. Other major causes are driving while distracted by use of a cellphone, pedestrian inattentiveness, and failure to heed traffic signs and warnings. The police force has not released statistics on vehicular accidents in the country of recent but President Granger had noted that over the last 15 years, more than 2,000 Guyanese have been killed on the roadways. He characterised the problem as a serious epidemic.