Commissioner of Police Leslie James, told 151 new law enforcement officers that excellent work will be rewarded but indiscipline will not be tolerated, as they embarked Tuesday on their careers to serve and protect society.
“You will be required to make decisions. Go ahead, be assertive and make those decisions. Do the right things… I urge that as you go through the communities of which you will be performing your professional duties, remember the oath which you all took. Remember the question, am I a credit to the force? Once you remember those things, the execution, the professional execution of your duties will be very simple. You will be measured by the standards that are set by us…excellent work will be rewarded and in the same breath, indiscipline will not be tolerated,” James said.
He was at the time delivering the feature address at the graduation ceremony held at the Tactical Ser-vices Unit (TSU) Square, Eve Leary on Tuesday for recruit courses 373, 374, 375, 37 ‘B’1, 37 ‘B’2 and 15 ‘G’.
James told the officers that they are equipped with all the knowledge necessary to begin their careers.
“You are all now policemen and women and you are being entrusted with the acquired knowledge of our laws, regulations, rules, procedures and tactics. You are embarking on an exciting journey but equally a serious career. There is no need, may I implore, for excessive[ness] while you are executing your duties in our communities across our landscape,” he said.
He told the ranks that this year the Guyana Police Force celebrates its 180th anniversary, while urging them to follow the footsteps of their colleagues who have been in the force for a number of years. “May I urge that you continue to exude the confidence and resilience that your colleagues have done. Our citizens in the communities in which you will now be serving expect nothing but professionalism, self-discipline, courage and most of all, integrity,” James added.
In order to continue the force’s efforts toward the reduction of crime, James told the ranks that they are required to provide service and protection.
“At this point, the future of the force looks very much positive. Dividends are being attained from the investment made in our efforts to build capacity,” he said.
During his address, James provided an update on the Guyana Police Force security sector reform.
He said the need to review and revise the strategies of the force has always engaged the attention of the administration of the organisation. “As Commissioner of Police, it would be an indictment to ignore the foundation set by my predecessors. However, with that foundation coupled with my trust to the reaffirmation of this noble organization, I am happy to report the successes and updates as follows,” he related.
The attention in the area of human resource management, he explained, is to identity and implement strategies aimed at best utilising the human resources of the force. “To this end, the activities, the review of the deployment of ranks throughout the country to ascertain adequacy and suitability, the review of key competencies taking into consideration new and forthcoming challenges, review and revision of departmental sections of sub-sections aims and objectives for efficient resourcing, and development and the review of the electronic database system for efficient operations are being undertaken,” James further related.
Further to these, he added that the force’s administration has completed a review of the human resource and performance assessments framework report recently. This, he said, is being procured through the city’s security strengthening programme.
In terms of training, James explained that the organisation has intensified its work in addressing the immediate concerns. Some of these include police community engagement, station management, tourism policing, conflict management and conflict resolution, risk management, operational management, public speaking and communication skills, understanding and detecting transnational crimes, cyber-crimes management and hotspot management.
Approvals have also been granted for the construction/rehabilitation of several police stations this year, into 2020.
“The administration continues to focus on the working and living conditions of its ranks,” James said.
Through this focus, and with coordination by the Ministry of Public Security, James noted that the force has also rehabilitated a number of police stations and buildings throughout 2018.
Some of the new and rehabilitated police stations are Mackenzie, Kwakwani, Aurora, Suddie, Annai, Aishalton, Mabaruma, Port Kaituma, La Grange, Mibicuri and Cane Grove.
Meanwhile, in an effort to strengthen the capacity of the Guyana Police Force, James said he and his team have established and operationalised several new units such as the cyber-crimes unit, the cold case unit, the firearms investigation unit, the missing persons unit and the police prosecutors coordinating unit.
These units, he said, were established in order to bring dedicated focus to the ranks’ individual tasks.
Additionally, the Top Cop once again warned members of the public to desist from attempting to bribe police officers.
He described the act of corruption as ‘two fold”.
Trophies were presented to the most outstanding graduates of each recruit course. The best graduating students for the five recruit courses were Woman Constable 25080 Roberts, Constable 25018 Gobin, Constable 25124 Jafer, Constable 25002 Deowraj, Constable 25174 Edoo and Constable 25106 Vyphius.
For each course, there were also runner-up prizes and most outstanding student awards.
