Guyana needs a less corrupt police force, not more ranks to reduce crime
Dear Editor,
With murders and armed robberies climbing at an alarming rate, the Minister of Home Affairs seems very confused as to what to do to reduce crime. His attempts to convince the people that the crime rate is going down have failed and his decision to hire 1500 new police officers in the new-year will not work either.
The Minister does not have the requisite management skills to solve the crime issue. For him and the PPP cabal to believe that 1500 additional police recruits will be a deterrent against crime suggests a certain desperation and ineptness on their part in the fight against crime.
What the minister and the PPP cabal do not understand is that having more policemen in the force will not solve the crime issue but rather a more efficient, competent, professional and less corrupt police force. For one thing, giving directives to the top brass in the force has drastically reduced the professionalism in the force. For another, the minister has not taken any concrete steps to reduce corruption in the force or address their abusive and brutal behavior on the public.
While the murder rate is the most compelling crime statistic, what has the population living in fear behind bars in their homes is armed robbery, burglaries and break-ins.
For women and children, there is also the high risk of their fear of rape, kidnapping and other sexual crimes. None of these will be deterred with 1500 more police in a force that is brutal, abusive and corrupt and is riddled with other types of illegal practices from top to bottom.
Indeed, it might be reasonably argued that those that have fuelled these crimes also fuel the murders. The point here is that 1500 new police recruits cannot be the magic bullet to reduce crime. For any police force to be successful in solving crimes, it must have the cooperation and input from the public but in Guyana, the majority of people do not trust the police and therefore will not cooperate or provide much information to them.
It bears repeating that the factors that create the conducive conditions for crime require a more fundamental approach that gets to the sources of the problem. Among the factors generally identified in the rise of crime are the breakdown of family and community structures, the failure of the public school system to motivate and elevate the youths, lack of proper jobs, despair and hopelessness among the youths, the society’s dysfunctional value system and the absence of leadership at all levels.
Some examples of the last two are the reported profanity and violent threats against the Publisher, Glenn Lall and the staff of Kaieteur News by the Attorney General; the abusive and cussing-down of the US Ambassador at his residence by of the Minister of Education; the nasty and rude remarks on an Amerindian citizen by the president and the ghetto type behavior by the Minister of Home Affairs—all of which reveal poor leadership and their inability to exercise moral control over their behavior as ministers and law enforcers in the country.
The fact that the PPP government has been unable to stem the crime tide and turn it back over a sustained period indicates its inept policies to tackle the problem at the root level. It is also quite clear to the public that the solution needed to solve crime is beyond the capacity of the Jagdeo/Ramotar regime.
For such a plan to succeed, political interference in the force must end and promotions should not be based on party loyalty. It requires detailed planning, broad involvement of professionals, competent, qualified and highly trained police personnel, careful management and investment in human development, among other things.
It also requires political will, leadership skills and a qualified and competent Minister of Home Affairs to create the conditions for the professionals in the police force to tackle the crime problem in an integrated, holistic manner. The PPP regime which was elected in part on the promise to defeat crime, secure the nation and return a sense of security to the people in nothing more than another broken promise.
While the political opposition and the public at large seem to understand that crime is a major impediment to their security and to economic growth and prosperity, the PPP regime does not. Unless the people are prepared to change the government in the next election, the crime issue will not be solved by acrimonious politics and empty promises from the PPP cabal; it needs a real solution from a minister with leadership skills and who is competent and qualified in security related issues.
Asquith Rose
Chandra Deolall
Dr. Merle Spenser-Marks
With murders and armed robberies climbing at an alarming rate, the Minister of Home Affairs seems very confused as to what to do to reduce crime. His attempts to convince the people that the crime rate is going down have failed and his decision to hire 1500 new police officers in the new-year will not work either.
The Minister does not have the requisite management skills to solve the crime issue. For him and the PPP cabal to believe that 1500 additional police recruits will be a deterrent against crime suggests a certain desperation and ineptness on their part in the fight against crime.
What the minister and the PPP cabal do not understand is that having more policemen in the force will not solve the crime issue but rather a more efficient, competent, professional and less corrupt police force. For one thing, giving directives to the top brass in the force has drastically reduced the professionalism in the force. For another, the minister has not taken any concrete steps to reduce corruption in the force or address their abusive and brutal behavior on the public.
While the murder rate is the most compelling crime statistic, what has the population living in fear behind bars in their homes is armed robbery, burglaries and break-ins.
For women and children, there is also the high risk of their fear of rape, kidnapping and other sexual crimes. None of these will be deterred with 1500 more police in a force that is brutal, abusive and corrupt and is riddled with other types of illegal practices from top to bottom.
Indeed, it might be reasonably argued that those that have fuelled these crimes also fuel the murders. The point here is that 1500 new police recruits cannot be the magic bullet to reduce crime. For any police force to be successful in solving crimes, it must have the cooperation and input from the public but in Guyana, the majority of people do not trust the police and therefore will not cooperate or provide much information to them.
It bears repeating that the factors that create the conducive conditions for crime require a more fundamental approach that gets to the sources of the problem. Among the factors generally identified in the rise of crime are the breakdown of family and community structures, the failure of the public school system to motivate and elevate the youths, lack of proper jobs, despair and hopelessness among the youths, the society’s dysfunctional value system and the absence of leadership at all levels.
Some examples of the last two are the reported profanity and violent threats against the Publisher, Glenn Lall and the staff of Kaieteur News by the Attorney General; the abusive and cussing-down of the US Ambassador at his residence by of the Minister of Education; the nasty and rude remarks on an Amerindian citizen by the president and the ghetto type behavior by the Minister of Home Affairs—all of which reveal poor leadership and their inability to exercise moral control over their behavior as ministers and law enforcers in the country.
The fact that the PPP government has been unable to stem the crime tide and turn it back over a sustained period indicates its inept policies to tackle the problem at the root level. It is also quite clear to the public that the solution needed to solve crime is beyond the capacity of the Jagdeo/Ramotar regime.
For such a plan to succeed, political interference in the force must end and promotions should not be based on party loyalty. It requires detailed planning, broad involvement of professionals, competent, qualified and highly trained police personnel, careful management and investment in human development, among other things.
It also requires political will, leadership skills and a qualified and competent Minister of Home Affairs to create the conditions for the professionals in the police force to tackle the crime problem in an integrated, holistic manner. The PPP regime which was elected in part on the promise to defeat crime, secure the nation and return a sense of security to the people in nothing more than another broken promise.
While the political opposition and the public at large seem to understand that crime is a major impediment to their security and to economic growth and prosperity, the PPP regime does not. Unless the people are prepared to change the government in the next election, the crime issue will not be solved by acrimonious politics and empty promises from the PPP cabal; it needs a real solution from a minister with leadership skills and who is competent and qualified in security related issues.
Asquith Rose
Chandra Deolall
Dr. Merle Spenser-Marks
