HENRY Rector, Acting Political Chief of the United States Embassy, initiated the launch of the Better Police Readiness in Caribbean Law Enforcement Organisations (B-PRO) Project during a courtesy visit to Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken at Eve Leary’s Commissioner’s Conference Room on Monday.

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) confirmed that the B-PRO Project, funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and implemented by the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF), aims to enhance law enforcement practices across the Caribbean, with focused improvements within the GPF.

In Guyana, the B-PRO initiative seeks to strengthen the GPF’s organisational and administrative structures, enforce rigorous ethics, transparency, and accountability procedures within the GPF’s Office of Professional Responsibility, enhance training and development opportunities for GPF officers through specialised courses and continuous learning programs, improve the capabilities of GPF Criminal Investigation Department officers in handling criminal investigations, and equip the GPF academy with advanced tools for assessing officer performance.

The meeting also introduced three PADF experts who will conduct initial assessments with various GPF departments this week: Christian Peterson, specialising in data analytics and governance; Jeffrey Shearer, a certified crime scene analyst and forensic evidence expert; and Robert Brzenchek, a nationally certified instructor and expert in law enforcement organisational management.
Among the attendees were U.S. Embassy INL Specialist Alana Bumbury-Walton, PADF Project Coordinator Wynette Oudkerk, Deputy Director Tonia Newton, and Woman Superintendents Nicola Kendall, Head of the Strategic Planning Unit for Police Reform, and Sonia Herbert, Director of the Guyana Police Force.

The launch marks a significant step in fostering collaboration between the U.S. Embassy, PADF, and the GPF to bolster law enforcement capabilities and enhance security measures in Guyana and across the Caribbean region.