A farewell parade was held at D’Urban Park yesterday for the retiring Head of the Presidential Guard Service, Assistant Commissioner of Police Brian Joseph.
Addressing attendees at the farewell, Joseph, who gave 35 years of service to the Guyana Police Force, said he had done his best with the tools that were given to him.
“I will not pretend that I am the first to experience the sadness that I feel to be leaving a body of men and women who I feel such a warm connection to,” he said. He added that he never thought that he would become so connected to persons when he first joined the police force in 1982.
Reminiscing on his years of service to the force and how he extended acts of kindness in every way humanly possible, he opined that his experiences and memories will live on. Joseph charged his colleagues to strive for firmness and to be dedicated, knowledgeable and dependable in the force.
He joined the Guyana Police Force at age 19, on completion of his secondary education and was later posted to the Tactical Services Unit to perform duties out of the Water Street Beat Duty Centre in plain clothes.
Between 1985 and 1995, he was seconded to the presidential guard detail, serving under late presidents Desmond Hoyte and Cheddi Jagan.
In 1995 Joseph returned to the force and commanded posts spanning ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘D’ and ‘G’ divisions. According to information made available to the media, his most outstanding and successful works were during his tenures as Traffic Officer and Commander of ‘B’ Division.
Assistant Superintendent J Hamer, who read Joseph’s biography, said that while Joseph was Traffic Officer between 2011 and 2013, the Guyana Police Force saw the lowest accident figures in almost half a century in 2012, with 1,638 accident occurrences. The same year also saw the lowest fatal accident figures in 26 years with 102 occurrences. Hamer also informed that while Joseph was Commander of ‘B’ Division between 2013 and 2015, serious crimes were reduced by almost 50 percent with a clear-up rate of 62 percent.
On May 18th, 2015, Joseph was appointed Head of the Presidential Guard Unit by the new Granger administration. Before the conclusion of the parade, Joseph did his final inspection and salute of the Presidential Guard, bidding them a solemn farewell.
Among those in attendance at the event were President David Granger, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and Minister of State Joseph Harmon.
