Dear Editor,
We know the police have a serious problem with competency, responsiveness, intelligence gathering, ability to combat crime and other aspects of good policing. This has been the case from time immemorial. We love to jump up and blame the police at the very first sign of abject ineptitude, malaise and failure. Guyana has some 3570 police officers. The GPF admits that this number is short by some 700 to 800 officers needed to deliver optimum policing services. Others may argue that considering the crime situation in this country and its constant escalation, about 1400 to 1600 more officers are needed. Now, more officers is never a guarantee of better policing nor can it obviate the questions of incompetency but more bodies on the streets is probably the nation’s best short-term solution until it can properly revamp the police force and bring in a much-needed culture of efficiency and professionalism.
The problem is where will those 700 to 1600 officers come from? The traditional recruiting base of African-Guyanese is tapped out as the shortfall of 700 to 800 GPF officers during the past 10 years has demonstrated. The other potential mass recruiting base in Indian-Guyanese is the only other source for hope. If the GPF cannot successfully recruit mostly Indian-Guyanese to fill those 700 to 1600 spaces, the country will likely continue to face its current helplessness against crime. Now, getting some 700 to 1600 officers into boots will not suddenly transform Guyana into Sweden, but it will alleviate the crying shame that is crime in this nation.
I am not a fan of the GPF but let us be honest here and admit that beyond its obvious limitations, there are other critical factors impeding its ability to do a better than its current insipid job. The government has undermined the GPF on several occasions, hindering its ability to improve. The UK’s massive offer to help the GPF was refused. Similar offers from other major anti-crime groups such as the US Drug Enforcement Agency were refused or never entertained. A convicted drug kingpin obtained sophisticated and expensive spy equipment that only governments can obtain while the ill-equipped, empty-handed and outgunned GPF were being being slaughtered during the crime spree. I am no mathematician but the simple addition of policies that stymie to an already weak police force will give one the current hoax.
War cannot be won without bodies on the ground. By starting off undermanned an already shaky GPF always loses the war. In this ethnically-charged cauldron called Guyana where crime is the paramount fear and criminality is the domain of all groups, it is unfair to expect one group to bear the burden and face the brunt of this paramount fear particularly when there is a lack of security personnel in the first place. I don’t care if they are being paid to do a job. Even if it is a pittance. That is not the problem. The problem is the lack of officers, something a pittance or a fortune cannot fix. I see this situation of chronic understaffing of the GPF getting worse as more desert, flee and simply do not join the force. The loser will be the Guyanese people. Imagine the level of anarchy and wanton criminality this nation will descend into if the GPF loses another 700 to 800 officers in the next 5 years. We are in an election year with an undermanned and struggling police force which was refused help from Scotland Yard, the Americans and others. I bet some will descend upon bottom-houses filled with the gullible, and spin this catastrophe they have contributed to in the familiar refrains.
Yours faithfully,
M Maxwell
