Following the exposure in the media of alleged police corruption in ‘B’ Division, Crime Chief Lyndon Alves has been sent on administrative leave to facilitate an investigation. That investigation will not be of an independent character; it will be conducted by the GPF’s own internal investigative arm, the Office of Professional Responsibility. Exactly when this organ was charged with conducting an inquiry into the allegations is not at all clear. All that can be said is that for a protracted period, the Force was silent on the issue, conveying the impression, rightly or wrongly, it was anticipating it would soon evaporate in the overheated atmosphere of Guyana’s political environment. According to the state newspaper, Mr Alves was asked to proceed on leave last Monday.
Whatever the case, the matter of alleged police corruption is not going away. Furthermore, it raises questions about the reforms undertaken two years ago in relation to the upper echelons of the Police Force. Those personnel changes followed a report from a Commission of Inquiry into police investigations of an alleged plot to assassinate President David Granger, that had been conducted by Assistant Commissioner (ret’d) Paul Slowe. The police, it appears, did not take the ‘plot’ too seriously, and on the basis of what was reported and what emerged during the inquiry, neither did the public at large.
The President, however, had a different perspective on the matter, being quoted as saying after the commission’s report had been submitted, “Even persons who have been following the day-to-day reports would have realised that there has been a significant lapse in professionalism at the high levels of the Guyana Police Force …” The Head of State had earlier directed the Police Service Commission to delay its consideration of the promotions list, a directive with which it had complied and over which it was taken to court. After the setting up of the Commission of Inquiry, Mr Granger indicated that its findings could have relevance for the postponed police promotions.
While the full details of the commission’s report never emerged, some of its recommendations were published in the Guyana Chronicle. It recommended that Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud should be removed or made to resign, that acting Police Commissioner David Ramnarine should be sanctioned and that there should be changes in the Criminal Investigations Department, including the replacement of Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum.
It was the latter which caught citizens’ attention, because in their view of the situation, Mr Blanhum was the most effective Crime Chief they had seen in recent times. What he had said in answer to questions at the Commission of Inquiry, however, had caught the President’s attention. In particular, the then Crime Chief labelled the allegations of an assassination plot against the Head of State as “inherently incredible.” He furthermore said that on his interpretation of the legal advisor’s advice, the evidence was tenuous, indicating that it was “flimsy” and had “no bearing.” He amplified this under cross-examination by saying there had been no plot.
The President made a point of referring directly to his testimony, although he did not name him. “I think it is completely unacceptable for any public official to deem the allegation or the intention of the plot to assassinate the President of any country as being ‘inherently incredible’,” he said; or “that a person who [was] appointed to conduct an investigation, [should] before completing the investigation … come to such conclusions.” Mr Blanhum was sent on 90 days accumulated leave, although Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan was at pains to dispel the notion that there was any connection between that and what had come out of the inquiry.
His assurances notwithstanding, changes were made in line with the recommendations of the report, and Assistant Commissioner Paul Williams was appointed Crime Chief, while Mr Blanhum became second-in-command of ‘A’ Division.
On August 30 last year, Mr Leslie James was appointed Police Commissioner, succeeding Mr David Ramnarine who had been acting in the post. In addition, four Deputy Commissioners were named, namely Messrs Lyndon Alves (who now became Crime Chief), Paul Williams, Nigel Hoppie, and Ms Maxine Graham. They were made responsible for four areas of the police force: Operations, Law Enforcement, Special Branch/ Intelligence and Administration. It might be noted that Deputy Commissioner Alves had been awarded the Disciplined Services Medal this year, while in 2008, when he was in the TSU, he had won the Best Cop Award.
President Granger has always insisted that the Commission of Inquiry had brought to the fore some serious deficiencies in the Police Force, which he hoped Mr Russell Combe of the UK’s Security Sector Reform Programme would give pointers to rectifying. “It is not a witch-hunt,” said the President, “We are trying to make the law enforcement agencies more efficient.”
At the time, the opposition accused the government of just using the so-called assassination plot as a cover for making the kind of appointments they were politically comfortable with. Whether or not there was any substance to their claims, they themselves were hardly innocent in that regard when they were in office. One of the problems of the GPF has been that neither side has wanted it to be truly politically neutral as an institution, and this has had the inevitable effect on its capacity to function as it should.
Following on the new appointments, President Granger was quoted as saying, “I am convinced that the efficiency of the Police Force as a whole will be enhanced.” He also said, “We have also improved the architecture of the Police Force … So things will be better.” It now appears that things may be a lot worse than he could have imagined. If he seriously wants a better Force, and if he seriously seeks a more efficient one, then he has to be prepared to forgo the platitudes, abandon his personnel preferences – some of which appear to be less than well informed, and mount the kinds of investigation which will root out the corruption which has embedded itself in the GPF. And that does not mean handing an inquiry over to the Office of Professional Responsibility; it means an independent investigation.
When Minister Ramjattan was asked why there would be no independent inquiry, he responded that he was “very comfortable” with the OPR. He was quoted as saying, “We have to build institutions in Guyana to the extent of letting them get integrity and reputation, and unless we start doing that, nothing will grow in Guyana.” This is nonsense. When you have police who have been accused of running protection rackets and even committing murder, among other criminal activities, you are not going to use that as an excuse to have other police try and “get integrity and reputation” by investigating their alleged crimes. In addition, the whistle-blowers will not have the confidence to talk to police officers, and as a result, nothing may come of the inquiry.
If it is that the political overlords are afraid of what might be revealed in an independent investigation, which is why they are avoiding one, then they should say goodbye to any hope of an efficient Police Force. And they should stop lecturing the rest of us about what they are doing to achieve one.
