MORE than 2,000 constables, corporals and sergeants will finally pin on new insignia when President Irfaan Ali’s mass promotion order takes effect on August 1, 2025.
In a Force where some officers retired as lifelong constables, this is a seismic morale boost and overdue recognition of thankless service. But promotions alone will not modernise the Guyana Police Force; they must be the gateway to deeper change.

The President’s package is ambitious. Automatic rank upgrades, free tertiary education for every officer, and a quarterly performance scorecard promise to transform policing from a dead-end job into a professional career path.

The reforms build on earlier moves; 600 senior promotions in February, and the rollout of 5,000 body cameras with the blunt presidential warning that there is “absolutely no excuse” for officers to patrol unrecorded. Together, they sketch an institution finally willing to measure itself, and to be measured by the public.
Yet history counsels caution. When the Police Service Commission froze promotions in 2021 amid court battles, careers stagnated and public trust sank. That memory lingers, and citizens will judge this new wave not by the number of stripes sewn but by whether behaviour on the street improves.

Ali’s administration seems aware of the risk: Deputy Commissioner Ravindradat Budhram now speaks openly of rogue cops in the dock, and vows “zero tolerance for misconduct”. Ending the culture of impunity is the only way to prevent tomorrow’s inspectors from carrying yesterday’s bad habits into higher offices.

The accountability architecture is, therefore, the true test. The quarterly station audit; tracking maintenance of State assets, community engagement and discipline must be transparent, data-driven, and public.

Body-camera footage must be reviewed, not stored. Scholarships should be tied to course completion and post-study return of service. And the reformers must resist the temptation to politicise the evaluation process.

If the Ali plan marries rank with responsibility, promotions will be the start of a renaissance. If it falters, shiny new badges will merely mask old dysfunction.
The Force, soon to be rebranded the “Guyana Police Service”, now stands on a credibility precipice: Step forward into professional policing, or slip back into the abyss of corruption and public contempt. For the sake of every rank recognised, and every citizen longing for impartial protection, the choice must be forward.