The Home Affairs Ministry has warned that ongoing efforts to reform and modernise the Guyana Police Force (GPF) will be “doomed to failure” if the police do not take ownership and commit to the process.
The warning came in a statement on Wednesday from the Ministry on the work of the Strategic Management Department (SMD), which was established almost two years ago as the primary technical driver for the implementation of the force’s five-year strategic plan.
In its most detailed update since the department came into being, the Ministry, seeking to offer clarity and to dispel “misinformed positions” taken by sections of the media, said that the reform process of the GPF was determined to be of major importance for the effective performance of the organisation, particularly in the area of its community relations.
However, the Ministry said it is concerned with the state of police-community relations and the complaints which are made about police misconduct.
According to the Ministry, it should not be forgotten that the force in its 175 years of existence has never undertaken a task of such complexity and magnitude as the reform plan.
It added that the SMD has done assessments and submitted proposals in pursuit of the objectives of the plan, and has been providing technical assistance in the development of action plans in this regard.
The Ministry further said it is satisfied that some work has been done and others are ongoing, with reform and modernisation as the focal issues. Among the initiatives which are proposed in the short term, according to the Ministry are a Multi Stakeholder Forum and a Citizen Perception Survey. The Ministry expressed hope that both mechanisms, among others, will inform a better understanding of the perceptions, expectations and potential contributions that stakeholders can provide to the police in fulfilling their constitutional mandate in serving and protecting our people.
“However, it should be noted that these interventions will be in vain and doomed to failure in the absence of ownership and the demonstrated commitment of the entire process on the part of the GPF,” the Ministry pointed out.
It added that it recognises that any institution steeped in a certain operational mode will “sometimes quite unwittingly display signs of resistance at influential levels.”
“In the case of the [GPF] although reforms are in themselves desirable care must be taken that our expectations of a quick fix do not take root in unrealistic ways.
Results will not come overnight. At the same time citizens and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) quite rightly expect that the [GPF] will take all reasonable steps to address the contentious issues of serious crime rates, road traffic safety, police misconduct, domestic violence, and others which impact negatively on the society,” it further added, while reiterating its commitment to continued support in all efforts to reform the force.
There have been repeated reports of members of the SMD receiving a hostile reception from senior police officials who refuse to cooperate.
Former police commissioner Winston Felix in August last year had cause to raise this issue in the media.
Since then this newspaper was told things have improved a bit.
Those initially chosen to make up the SMD were former policeman Patrick Mentore (head), Rosanne Purnwasie, Mona Bynoe, Kenneth Bentinck, Her-manetta Andrews, Richard Francois, Trovanna Azez, Enid Thom-Alleyne, Ian James and Shameza David. Three persons have since left and it is unsure whether they have been replaced.
The SMD is based in the police headquarters at Eve Leary and some observers have questioned the wisdom of this move as the intention was for this organisation to be independent from the force. Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee had previously said that the high-level civilian professionals in non-line position will be hired to ensure “a high degree of professional, technical and efficient inputs to guarantee implementation of the plan.”
On December 31, 2012, under enormous public pressure over his performance and the need for long overdue changes, Rohee announced the sweeping reforms to be ushered in with the implementation of the strategic plan.
