The Ministry of Home Affairs has acknowledged the need for “concentrated work” in seven areas of policing following an analysis of recommendations contained in the recent report of the Linden Commission of Inquiry (COI).
Mandated by the President, the Ministry of Home Affairs recently completed a comparative analysis of the recommendations of the COI with respect to the Guyana Police Force and the relationship between the said recommendations and those made by previous consultancies in the Security sector.
A release from the ministry on Monday said that its analysis found that of the eight recommendations made by the COI, seven are common to previous recommendations made in five previous reports: the Citizen Security Programme (CSP) Strategic Plan (2012); the Disciplined Forces Commission Report (2004); the Security Sector Reform Action Plan (2008); the Report from the Capita Symonds Group (2013), and the Centrex/ Scottish Consultancy.
The release said that the common cross/cutting recommendations are: training; partnerships; accountability of police officers/ professionalism; decentralisation of decision making process; building public confidence; review of SOPs/use of force policy; and management audit/ modernisation.
The ministry said that, “It is clear from the analysis done that concentrated work has to be done in these seven common areas, and it is for this reason that consultants have been hired”.
The release said that with respect to the other recommendation of the COI to “adopt international best practices,” the ministry will incorporate it with the other recommendations when implementing.
A release from the ministry said that President Donald Ramotar, at the recently concluded Police Officers’ Con-ference, had called upon the ministry to undertake this analysis, and to take the necessary steps to implement the decisions recommended by the COI, while taking into account other recommendations made in previous reports concerning the Guyana Police Force.
According to the release, in the terms of reference for the COI, it was required to: “make recommendations, implementation of which will assist the Guyana Police Force in effectively and professionally discharging their responsibilities for the maintenance of Law and Order in the aforesaid Community of Linden and similar Communities without endangering their own safety and that of innocent persons.”
Critics have argued that the government has not been serious about real reform of the police force, noting that several of the recommendations have been pending since 2004 and even earlier.
