Following reports of police officers soliciting bribes from farmers along the De Hoop branch road, the Guyana Police Force’s Office of Professional Responsibility has launched a probe, Commander of ‘C’ Division Calvin Brutus has said.
Brutus recently told this newspaper that the investigation was initiated after he read of the situation in this newspaper.
In a letter, which was published in the April 23rd edition of this newspaper, Janaknauth Panchu wrote, “Several times each day, police officers, who could only be deemed corrupt, have been patrolling the De Hoop branch road (which is an ungazetted road) preying on unlicensed drivers or unlicensed motor vehicles looking for a bribe.”
Brutus noted that no official report was made to the police and added that many persons have been found to be skeptical about providing information. “We had persons who did not or could not identify the ranks or they didn’t want to come forward and share the information they have,” he explained.
He added that over the weekend the investigators returned to the community but only a few of the reports contained information that could be used for a case. “Many persons made the same allegations but we do not have a name, time or date when they were stopped by the police,” he said. Nevertheless, Brutus noted that the investigation would continue.
Panchu, in his letter, had said that an unlicensed woman was recently stopped by the police, who demanded that she give them a $20,000 bribe, failing which they would take her to the Mahaica Police Station. She refused to give them any money, so she was instructed to drive to the police station. She also refused to do so since she was on her private property and not on the public road. She subsequently locked her vehicle and walked away. In a desperate attempt to take the vehicle to the police station, the police broke the lock on the vehicle. Brutus stated that this was one of the cases for which investigators were able to gather substantial information to form a case.
Panchu said the police sometimes demand as much as $50,000 from unlicensed drivers or those driving with expired documents. He explained that while he did not condone what drivers were doing, most were unable to pass the theoretical aspect of the driving test due to their educational background. He also noted that the machinery is driven in the farming community and used mainly in the farmlands and the only time they are on the public road is when the drivers cross the road en route to the backlands.
