The hierarchy of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has seen major transformation with the reassignment of a number of senior ranks since the new PPP/C-led government assumed office and new Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn has said that more changes are expected.
Benn, when contacted by Stabroek News via telephone yesterday, said that the changes within the force are not complete.
“We are still doing some changes. I am not discussing it right now,” Benn stated.
His disclosure came just days after he met with the leadership of the GPF, the Guyana Prison Service and the Guyana Fire Service and outlined his policy for the law enforcers.
A statement from the GPF after the meeting had said that the elements outlined in the policy included the need for police to exercise impartiality and sensitivity in the execution of their duties; the need to assess and improve on the treatment of prisoners in custody; the need to retrain and re-engage errant ranks for behavioural correction as a first step; the need for ranks to be equipped with the appropriate tools and training when responding to scenes of accidents and incidents; the implementation of a 10-point improvements strategy for all divisions, branches and departments within the three services; and the need to implement a mechanism that allows feedback from members of the public as to their perception of the quality of service offered, especially by the police.
Since the swearing in of President Irfaan Ali on August 2rd, there have been changes in the hierarchy of the force. It began with Top Cop Leslie James and Deputy Commissioner Maxine Graham proceeding on pre-retirement leave.
Deputy Commissioner Nigel Hoppie is now performing duties as the Police Commissioner. It remains unclear whether Hoppie’s elevation is permanent or temporary.
Assistant Commissioner Clifton Hicken has replaced Graham and is now leading the force’s operations.
In January of this year, Hicken along with Senior Superintendent Fazil Karimbaksh were seconded to positions outside of the force.
Hicken had been posted at the Ministry of Presidency’s Department of Citizenship, while Karimbaksh was posted to the Civil Defence Commission (CDC).
The most recent of the changes was Deputy Commissioner of Police, Paul Williams, being asked to proceed on 192 days of annualised vacation leave effective from Monday.
Prior to this, Assistant Commissioner of Police Edgar Thomas was appointed head of the Presidential Guard Service, a unit which is responsible for the security of both the president and Prime Minister.
GECOM
Thomas was relieved of his duties as Police Commander of Region 4(A) on March 5th after he reportedly failed to clear the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Region Four command centre of all persons in the wake of a bomb threat that day.
Stabroek News had previously reported that Thomas was spearheading the police operation at the GECOM Media Centre, which was also the office for the Returning Officer of District Four, when he received a telephone call from a rank informing him of his transfer.
This newspaper was informed that Thomas was removed after he reportedly refused to remove several persons, including GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj, and clear the premises following the bomb scare.
The instruction was reportedly given to Thomas by a Deputy Superintendent of Police; a lower rank than the one Thomas holds.
Many had deemed his immediate transfer as “unfair”.
Senior Superintendent Wendell Blanhum, who had been serving as Commander of Region One, has also returned to the post of Crime Chief.
In 2019, Blanhum was appointed as Commander for Region One when the force restructured its boundary marks for divisions.
In 2017, he was reassigned from being Crime Chief to being second-in-charge of ‘A’ Division and later served in the force Projects Unit before taking up command of Region 1.
Blanhum’s reassignment was controversial since it closely followed the completion of a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into an alleged assassination plot against then President David Granger. The CoI had specifically recommended that the officers that played a key role in the investigation of the alleged plot, including Blanhum, be reassigned, possibly to positions outside of the police force based on their conduct. At the time, the subject minister Khemraj Ramjattan had said Blanhum’s removal from the post of Crime Chief was not a demotion and that he was a “serious pillar” in the GPF and had done a “fantastic job” in the post.
Senior Superintendent Jairam Ramlakhan, who had been the GPF’s Police Public Relations Officer, has been named as Blanhum’s replacement as Commander of Region One.
In addition to this, Commander of Region 4 (C) Assistant Commissioner Royston Andries-Junor is now heading the force’s Public Relations Unit, while Senior Superintendent Khali Pareshram, who served as the second-in-command to Andries-Junor, will now lead that division.
Also among the senior officers being reassigned is Assistant Commissioner Simon McBean, who has been serving as the Commander of Region Three. He is now leading Region Four (A) while Senior Superintendent Errol Watts, who had previously headed Region Three, will return to the post.
McBean, has been serving as commander since his reinstatement in 2019, 10 years after being wrongfully dismissed from the Guyana Police Force.
