Acting Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken yesterday told police inspectors that the force will be seeking to increase its human resource capacity with diversity being a key aspect of its recruitment drive.
According to the Top Cop, “that diversity will see an amalgamation of cultures from the six races,” something, he said, that is needed based on the region in which members of the Force will be working.
“We must have an all-inclusive Guyana Police Force, one that is professional and self-sufficient”, he said.
Similar to his address to the Sergeants of the Police Force a day before, Hicken gave the Inspectors a comprehensive charge and strict mandate to ‘serve and protect’ and to change the negative image and perception that members of the public have of the Force.
“We must and we will change the image of this organisation. We must and we will serve the nation with distinction. We must and we will bridge the gap with members of the public and we must and we will not, as of today, have a conflict with the public.” he declared during a meeting he summoned yesterday with all Inspectors of the Force, across all regional divisions at the Police Officers’ Training Centre at Camp Road, Georgetown.
He further challenged the Inspectors to ‘police’ their respective communities in a committed and diligent way that will reduce the negative perceptions that residents have of the Force.
“In contemporary policing, we cannot work in isolation, because it will exhaust our resources, so in an effort to maximize our resources, we have to work in partnership with the corporate community, NGOs, and other agencies.”
Hicken’s message to the focussed audience of Inspectors was centred on the Force’s Strategic Plan 2022-2026, which speaks to operations, infrastructure, developing its people, performance, partnership, professionalism and accountability. “You’re going to be judged on every aspect of your work and so professionalism is paramount in this organisation.”
He also alluded to the importance and reason for the Community Policing Groups (CPGs) which play an integral role in fostering relationship with members of the public. He explained that Inspectors must understand the activities within their span of control and they – like the Sergeants and other ranks under their supervision – should be able to identify hotspots, black spots, commercial and other activities.
The Commissioner (Ag) pointed out that the police would venture into communities when there is a serious crime in an effort to speedily detect the crime. He, however, hastened to suggest that the same amount of “alacrity” must be enforced to go into the communities and speak with the residents and interact with them, as this can prevent crime from happening.
“Whatever you do, be professional. And if, for whatever reason, you go outside of the realm of professionalism and you fail to follow the SOPs, that’s not a Force decision but an independent decision. That’s not the policy of the organisation and so there will be consequences,” Hicken warned.
“I want to leave this with you, ‘change starts with you’ and you are going to be deemed the catalyst for change in this noble organization,” Hicken told those present. “Based on what transpires here and as we go forward, henceforth, we are going to move in one direction as one Police Force. I assure you that the ‘One Guyana’ initiative will be enforced through cohesiveness among members of the Guyana Police Force,” he added.
Hicken also announced the holding of a Sergeants and Inspectors conference early next month.
Also present at the meeting were Deputy Commissioner Administration (Ag), Calvin Brutus; Deputy Commissioner ‘Operations (Ag) Ravindradat Budhram; Head of Special Branch, Errol Watts; Head of SOCU, Fazil Karimbaksh; and Traffic Chief, Ramesh Ashram; along with other members of the Executive Management Team of the GPF.
