Commissioner of Police (ag) Nigel Hoppie has singled out the low academic requirements for entry to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) as being a contributing factor to the substandard conduct of some law enforcers, including use of excessive force and corruption.
Speaking at the GPF’s inaugural Integrity in Policing symposium at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Hoppie noted that persons desirous of joining the force are only required to have a sound primary education. He believes the requirement should be raised to a higher level.
Hoppie, who outlined the challenges faced by the force during his address, said public trust and confidence remain important to police policy and practices but tend to be endangered by the actions of some ranks.
“Some frontline ranks engage members of the public in an impolite, unethical and disrespectful manner, which result in dissatisfaction with police services,” he observed.
When carrying out their duties, the Top Cop highlighted, some police officers tend to use abusive language, hostile approaches and even excessive force when interfacing with the public.
“When effecting arrest, ranks at times would use indecent language and physically harass suspects or perpetrators of crimes and other breaches of the law. Even in situations that are sometimes aggravated by citizens, police still ought to be calm and civil in those situations,” he advised.
Additionally, Hoppie also acknowledged the issues of ranks unlawfully withholding motorists’ documents and using public office for private gain. “…And it is straight forward, its accepting a bribe or a gift from citizens for policing services,” he said.
“Ranks involved in traffic enforcement unnecessarily withhold, for example, a driver’s licence and other important documents in breach of standing instructions to the contrary,” he added.
As it relates to response to crime reports, Hoppie noted that police officers would habitually claim vehicles are not available to respond or even refuse to take a report because it occurs out of the station district, which should not be the case. “’….In actual fact they should send transit reports to the station district directly,” Hoppie said.
The acting Top Cop said ranks also exhibit undesirable response to reports of gender-based violence. “Ranks would sometimes urge reporters to resolve the matter with the abuser rather than adopting the lay down procedure. [They] treat reports from male victims in particular as a sort of joke, laughing at the reporter,” he stated.
Hoppie explained that to avoid these issues from recurring, the GPFs conducts a number of training programmes that focus on the core values of policing.
In some cases, he said, disciplinary actions are taken and even criminal charges are bought against members of the force who have been found in breach of the force’s policies and the law.
Hoppie called for a review and revision of the GPF’s Standing Orders and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in keeping with best practices and international standards. “Standing Orders and SOPs need to be revised and amended in keeping with the best practice and international standard of policing,” Hoppie said.
The COVID-19 pandemic, he said, has led to a restriction of some available training, which has affected skill and competency development and also the recruitment process.
The symposium is one of a series of engagements planned by the GPF to address the unprofessional and unethical conduct of some of its ranks in order to achieve a modern, professional and accountable organisation.
‘Integrity and ethics plan’
Declaring that the symposium was not held to “beat up on each other”, Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn, who also spoke, told the gathering that in order to accomplish the changes being envisioned, the GPF needs to establish an integrity and ethics plan.
The plan, Benn said, should include performance indicators for ranks. He also urged the police to continuously establish ten-point plans at every levels so that there is a “culture of continuous improvement”.
“…When we talk about questions of integrity moving forward, we have to speak about diversity related to empathy, more than sympathy, empathy and an understanding of the communities and our country and where we want to go forward together,” Benn urged.
To accomplish the new police force which is being touted, Benn added that a number of other barriers need to be examined. “We need to improve the intake of the police force beyond the question of diversity,” he said.
As a result, he said on-the-spot checks, outreaches and having sanctions applied in a fair, non-discriminatory manner are “extremely” important for the change. “We don’t want suicide in the police stations, we don’t want beatings, we don’t want insults and abuse,” Benn added.
Benn also said he is advocating for every police station across the country to have visual and audio recordings of the interactions between members of the public and police ranks.
He also said there needs to be a better approach dealing with domestic violence and violence against children. “That we engage the communities in a preventative and proactive way to avoid a descent into chaos,” he said.
Merit badges and other means of acknowledgement, according to Benn should also be given to police ranks/units for their good performance.
‘Professional job’
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mark Phillips, who is presently acting as the President, called on the ranks to separate their work from their personal lives in order to achieve improvement. “We have to go back to professional work. Our work is not personal in itself, it is professional. The politics, the discussions and all those things aside, our work is a professional job and our professional job is identified in the ways it should be done in the constitution,” he said.
Over the past few months, the force has faced mounting pressure from the public following a number of fatal police shootings.
The most high profile of these was in September when Essequibo businessman Orin Boston was shot and killed in his home by a police rank during what was said to be an anti-crime operation.
The case file in this matter is still with the Police Complaints Authority (PCA).
Prior to this, robbery accused Peter Headley was fatally wounded by a policeman in May. To date, no criminal charge/s has been laid against the rank and authorities remain silent on the findings of the investigation.
Earlier this month, minibus driver, Kevin Andries was killed during a “shootout” with the police who said they were trying to apprehend him and an accomplice in relation to suspected stolen items they had in their vehicle. It is unclear whether any action was taken against the rank/s involved in this shooting.
Phillips said the government expects the GPF to maintain law and order in the country to the best of its ability. “…When I say we expect you to perform your role in the maintenance of law and order in Guyana to the best of your ability, we not speaking only for the government of Guyana, we speaking for all the people of Guyana,” he said.
Phillips noted that the government is committed to “doing everything” within the confines of the budget to improve the GPF. “Because we want a well-equipped police force, we want a police force that is high performing, a police force that will contribute to a high state of citizen security throughout Guyana,” he added.
The issues of salary, welfare, conditions of work, equipment, and scholarships for members of the force to improve professional capability are all issues that he said the government is committed to deal with.
‘Corruption and misconduct’
During his address, Phillips also stressed on the importance of integrity, which he said is a reflection of leadership.“…If you are exercising power, it is important that issues of responsibility and integrity be ingrained in your psyche from the first day you enter the police force,” the Prime Minister said.
At some point during their career, Phillips said, every public official is faced with corrupt proposals. “…. Integrity, your integrity, will determine how you handle issues of corruption you face during your career,” he stated.
According to Phillips, many times when a junior ranks commits an offence against regulations, he/she is quickly dismissed and it is communicated. However, he said the situation differs when a senior official commits a similar offence. “We cover up and we protect…. That is not the service and protection that we want from the police force. If you are going to have integrity on a pedestal, it means you have to lead,” Phillips urged.
He advised the police to adopt a culture throughout the force where integrity is seem as important for the success of the individual and the trust and confidence of the force by the wider society.
“…Upholding integrity has its reward……Your enforcement of the SOPs, of the regulations and creating that climate where integrity is important for the success of your work adds up and at the end of it the entire force benefit and the entire Guyanese society benefit from it,” Phillips explained.
Covering up, he said, is a culture that tends to lead to the failure of any organisation. “….For success in your organisation and any organisation, you must have vision and the implementation…You have to expose corruption and uphold integrity,” he added.
Hoppie further stated that the loss of integrity does not only involve corruption and misconduct but also includes how members of the force decide to deal with situations and treat the general population.
He explained that if the public distrust and perceive the police as being unprofessional and unethical, it would be less incline to cooperate and assist the police force in the conduct of its role and responsibility.
