A “deep-seated problem” exists of police abusing law-abiding citizens and this creates hostility towards the law enforcement agents and thus substantially reduces the possibility of co-operation from citizens, which is critical to solving crime, former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran says.
“There is no point reporting these matters to the police. Nothing ever happens. I have direct experience of this. The Minister is always helpful and takes action. But disciplining one policeman at a time cannot solve a deep-seated problem such as the one that exists in relation to the TSU and the Traffic Police when they are on patrol,” the top PPP official wrote in the Weekend Mirror. Ramkarran said that the abuse happens every day and he has received numerous complaints. Along with the article, a photo of a policeman appearing to accept a bribe was published.
Ramkarran said that if the abuse continues, it is the police force and law abiding citizens who will continue to suffer.
In the article, he said that while he has little personal difficulty with the police, this is not so for many people moreso a group of young people who are targeted by two sets of policemen. “The group comprises young men in their twenties and thirties who drive motor vehicles, especially if they are new cars, SUVs or pick-up trucks. It may include others, such as this group riding motor cycles and many working class youth around Georgetown,” Ramkarran wrote.
He focused on the first group saying that traffic policemen on motor cycles or otherwise and TSU ranks in open back vehicles with guns target this group of young men. “I know because my two sons and their many friends are in this group. They own pick-up trucks only because of the lower cost. They try not to drive them at weekends because that is when these two groups of policemen, especially the latter, are on the prowl,” the former Speaker wrote.
He recounted an incident involving Whentworth Tanner-the Director of Social Services attached to the Ministry of Social Services and who was previously the Chief Licensing Officer having previously been attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Guyana Revenue Authority. Ramkarran noted that Tanner is a senior and talented public servant of great promise in his thirties, over six feet tall and drives a reasonably new car.
According to Ramkarran, on May 5 at midday a squad of TSU ranks in a grey Hilux pick-up, PMM 6231, led by Cadet Officer Grant, stopped Tanner in a very busy part of North Road. “They came out of their vehicle, all armed with frighteningly large guns, surrounded him and demanded to search him and his vehicle. He inquired the reason. Cadet Officer Grant said aggressively that they suspected that he had guns and drugs. He demanded to know the basis of the suspicion, but got no answer. They insisted. Mr. Tanner refused. They then demanded that he accompany them to Brickdam Police Station and one policeman entered his vehicle without invitation,” Ramkarran wrote.
He said that by this time a large crowd had gathered and during the confrontation, Tanner told the police that he was a public servant attached to the Ministry of Social Services. He was not asking any favours and having refused to give him a reason for the search, he was hoping that the police, if they knew his employment, would spare a public search with a large crowd now in attendance, according to Ramkarran.
He wrote that one of the policemen, Cpl Maxwell, “loudly and rudely”, told Tanner that he did not care who he was. By this time, one of Ramkarran’s sons who is a lawyer arrived on the scene.
According to Ramkarran, while talking to Tanner at the side of his car, Cpl Maxwell shouted to his son that he had to remove as he was obstructing the police from doing their work. “My son identified (himself). Cadet Officer Grant then said that he was in charge and that my son must talk to him. My son then said that it was improper for the police to stop and search citizens on the road for no reason. Cadet officer Grant said, again aggressively, that the police can search whoever they want,” Ramkarran wrote.
Later at the Brickdam Police Station in the Traffic Office, Cpl Maxwell demanded that the attorney leave. “Before doing so, he appealed to Cpl Harry, a traffic policeman who was present. He supported Cpl Maxwell. A policeman by the name of Mustaq, at least that was the name he gave, for no reason and without my son saying anything, shouted irrelevantly across the room to him: `You are a liar.’ My son had to leave the Traffic Office. A traffic policeman who knew him passed by and asked him what was going on. He explained. The traffic policeman then entered the Traffic Office, identified my son to Cpl. Maxwell and said he knew him. Cpl. Maxwell loudly exclaimed that he did not care,” Ramkarran wrote.
He posited that Tanner was victimized because of his age, his car and likely for another obvious reason and was charged for the usual traffic offences, but upon later producing his documents the charges were dropped. Incidents like these happen every day and he has received numerous complaints, Ramkarran said.
He said that officers like Grant, Maxwell, Harry and Mustaq- “who called himself a ‘war tank’”- are a disgrace to the police force and to the hardworking policemen who try their best. “The Police will no doubt deny everything I wrote, as they usually do. But everyone on the road knows what happens. These rude, power hungry policemen should be ashamed of picking on peaceful, hardworking citizens and then acting like bullies. If they want help from citizens to solve crime they must earn our respect, not seek to intimidate. If this continues it is the Police Force and the law abiding citizens who will continue to suffer,” Ramkarran wrote.
