President Bharrat Jagdeo used the same expression to refer to corrupt cops. Speaking in an interview during the Cabinet outreach on the Corentyne Coast, he acknowledged that there were “bad eggs” in the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force who had been involved in criminal activities. He disclosed that, the last time he spoke to the Police Commissioner, he was told there were about ninety policemen before the courts. “Ninety policemen in a Force of about 3,000 people… it’s a lot,” he said.
In one of this country’s worst demonstrations against police corruption a few years ago, residents of Tain on the Corentyne burned vehicles and tyres and blocked the roadway to demand the removal of members of the Tactical Services Unit and even called for the total expulsion of the police from the region. Ms Gail Teixeira who was Minister of Home Affairs at that time sped to the troublespot and promised the protestors, “I want to assure that any police rank found to be guilty of corruption will not remain in the Police Force… The Commissioner of Police and I are serious about lifting the standards of the police and their professionalism so do not doubt our seriousness.”
It was a striking coincidence that, precisely as President Jagdeo reported recently, she noted years ago that “over ninety policemen are before the courts for breaching the code of conduct on various charges.” Nothing seems to have changed.
The number of “bad eggs” in the Police Force could not have remained constant for so long without either the connivance or gross negligence of the senior officers. It is they who have either tolerated or turned a blind eye to corruption. The presence of so many “bad eggs” is symptomatic of a dysfunctional service. Once rich crooks find it possible to bribe poor policemen, investigations will be diverted or stopped, files will disappear, murders will go unpunished and crime will continue because it becomes a source of income. Police corruption always distorts law enforcement and discourages compliance by citizens.
A well administered Police Force should easily detect the “bad eggs” in its ranks and prevent their misconduct from becoming so pervasive or egregious as to impair the Force’s effectiveness. This is not because policemen are more honest but because internal regulations are enforced and mechanisms are implemented.
Corruption is a problem not only in the Police Force, but also in the government at large. Last September, Guyana still ranked among the most corrupt countries on the Transparency International 2008 Corruption Perception Index. In a survey of 180 countries, Guyana fell to 126 with a score of 2.6 out of 10 to make it the lowest-ranked English-speaking Caribbean state on the international list.
Had Mr Jagdeo not been a member of the cabinet for over sixteen years and President of the country for ten years, his inability to eradicate endemic corruption might be excused. But he knows what is happening. Soon after he had assumed office as President in 1999, he announced that “everyone in my government would have to conduct their business transparently or they would not have a part in the government.”
It seems that they still are.
