Dear Editor,
I have been following the case of the missing Hog Island boy, Ricky Jainarine, from the beginning and I have come to the conclusion that had it not been for incompetent and sloppy police work, a young boy’s life could have been saved.
I have noticed that officers of the GDF has met with Salimoon Rahaman, mother of the missing boy and they are doing their own investigation. I commend Commodore Best for the positive steps he has taken to reassure the public that the army is taking responsibility for their failures under his command. Police Commissioner Henry Greene could take lessons from Commodore Best to say the least. To date Mr Green has done nothing to inspire the Guyanese citizens to believe that the police force is up to the job of protecting the citizens, and whenever he speaks, it is mostly to defend incompetency and even the wrongdoing of the officers under his command.
Here is what a good police investigating team would have done after the report of 2 men found dead in small boat: Secure the boat in a safe place and look for signs of accident and/or foul play; videotape and photograph the place where the boat was found, the dead bodies and the boat – from all angles; immediately order autopsies on the dead men; after noticing the green and black scratches on the boat, do some investigation – ask around if there is a boat in the area painted green and black; they would have been told by many that the army/coast guard boat matched that description and has been plying the Essequibo river for some time, so they should try to locate the coast guard boat to see if it there is any evidence of an accident; they would have found out that the coast guard boat had suddenly disappeared from the area, and they should locate it, after which they would have seen the evidence of fresh paint; immediately secure the boat for forensic tests and compare with that of the boat of the dead men; immediately inform the army that it had been positively established that the coast guard boat had hit the other boat and hold the GDF soldiers for questioning.
With the coastguard boat impounded and the 3 soldiers in custody, Mr Ramdass might possibly still have been alive today.
Today, we read that members of the Guyana Police Force are congratulating themselves and celebrating the release of a kidnap victim. From all reports, the police had nothing to do with the release. Time and again, we read of charges against accused criminals and even murderers, being dismissed all because of sloppy police work.
Crime scenes are not secured, witnesses are not interviewed, evidence is tampered with and the list goes on and on. Very often, the investigative media are the ones doing the work of the police, or so it seems.
It is my hope that enough questions about the effectiveness of Commissioner Henry Greene are raised so as to produce change. Right now, I don’t believe that there is a single Guyanese who trusts the police and if that does not unsettle Commissioner Greene, Minister Rohee, or President Jagdeo, then nothing will and we’ll be having this same conversation for many years to come.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Z. Rahaman
