MINISTER of Public Security Mr Khemraj Ramjattan has several plans to propel the security sector, one of which sees women playing a better leadership role in confronting issues such as gender and domestic violence. Addressing executives of the Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce and members of the Upper Corentyne Fishermen’s Coop Society Limited at a meeting held at the City Inn Hotel at Line Path,

Skeldon on Wednesday, Minister Ramjattan said the ministry will be working with the Canadian and British Governments to provide capacity-based training, specific to females within the force to deal with these issues.
A survey commissioned in 2012 by the Ministry of Human Services in collaboration with the United Nation’s Population Fund has revealed that the lifetime prevalence of physical violence against women was highest, at 77 per cent, in Region Six, followed by 65 per cent in Region Four and 63 per cent in Region Ten.
The study has revealed that most of the victims suffered injuries and ill health, and were unable to work, while 50 per cent of them were sexually abused by their intimate partners during the course of their lives.
Meanwhile, as part of the government’s efforts to restore public confidence in the Guyana Police Force (GPF), Minister Ramjattan is emphasising the importance of ensuring ‘quality’ ranks are recruited to serve. The Minister said that the new administration intends to carry out rigorous background checks on new recruits.
“We want quality policemen and so we are going to vet in a better manner the recruits that are going to come in the police force,” the Minister said, adding that quality recruits will ensure fewer rogue cops in the Force, a situation for which the new administration has zero tolerance.
He pointed to his dismissal, immediately after taking office, of Mohanram Dolai and Narine Lall who were found criminally liable of burning the genitals of 15-year-old Tywon Thomas in 2009.  “You cannot have policemen in our Force who are going to do misconduct of that nature and to those vulnerable in our community…,” the Minister said.
Despite their actions, these two cops were promoted, one from Constable to Sergeant and the other from a Sergeant to an Inspector. “That is what the last administration did, and quite a lot of you here did not utter one word,” he pointed out.

Minister Ramjattan said that the new administration is against such behaviour and will instead work to ensure honest cops and better community-policing relations. “We want to ensure that communities start respecting policemen and policemen not only demanding the respect, but ensuring that their conduct deserve the respect by virtue of how they perform,” the Minister said.
To this end, he also called on ranks to work closely with members of the community, “to ensure that that respect and confidence is redeemed.”  He added that it is only when the community respects their policemen that they will want to do such things as share information, go to court to testify and report suspicious characters. In turn, the police will gain greater respect for the community if they respond to information supplied by citizens in a timely and lawful manner.
“This is what we would want in the new administration, a kind of civilian oversight over police stations in the various divisions, and that there be communication and dialogue with the citizens who we seek to protect and serve,” the Minister said.
No longer must policemen be seen as “bullies or little Caesars” in the communities, who harass and keep at bay the public, he said, but instead be seen as “embracing and working with the community so that the entire theme of protect and serve will be realised.”
Whilst in Region Six, the Minister also met and engaged the different chapters of the Community Policing Groups (CPGs). Minister Ramjattan underscored the need to have good community- policing relationship at each of these meetings. (GINA)