Dear Editor,
Former Guyana Police Commissioner, Seelall Persaud, opened up about his remarkable journey in law enforcement in his autobiography or memoir Stepping Out of the Herd: My Life in the Guyana Police Force (2022). The book took us through the humble life of young Seelall as he was growing up, life in Essequibo, his family life, his ancestors, and his 33.5 years as a law enforcement officer, rise through the police force (GPF) ranks to become the top cop, challenges and obstacles faced including political interference and racism, reforming the GPF, and his forced retirement. He also gave a brief overview or history of the police force (GPF) from its founding in 1838 and how it was used and abused as a controlling force of the population rather than as an institution for law enforcement. He offers recommendations for reforming the force including on recruitment, training, promotion, and professionalism.
The book reveals how Seelall had a dazzling rise through the GPF and ultimately had a dazzling career, becoming among the most famous police commissioners in Guyana’s history. In this vital memoir, Seelall revealed the inside stories of his family, his grandparents, his training as a police officer, and his policing career. He shared his candid experiences as a lawman from recruitment, undergoing training, being forced to consume beef against his cultural and religious upbringing, and his many encounters with criminals, politicians, and ordinary folks. His professionalism, integrity, and reputation as a no-nonsense officer catapulted him to the position of police commissioner.
The son and grandson of farmers, Seelall grew up in rural Essequibo and also spent time during school breaks on the islands with cousins. He came from very humble beginnings receiving his primary and secondary education on the Essequibo Coast. He loved cricket. He told how he lived a life marked by relative poverty and deprivation and experiencing racism and yet soared through the GPF ranks, He stated he lived by the cultural values of his ancestors and parents and carried those in his training as a law enforcement officer and through his career as well as in his life.
He moving to the capital city of Georgetown and later Timehri for training as a police officer. Initially, he toyed with the idea of joining the defence force but his older brother pointed to the disadvantage that he would be stationed on the borders of Guyana and be away from family. The brother steered him towards the police force. He entered the police academy, undergoing the training, graduating with distinction. He was assigned duties far away from home in the deep interior of the country before settling down in Georgetown.
The book addressed controversial topics and offers insights into the challenges the GPF faces – recruitment, training cadets, anti-Indian racism, police morale, corruption inside the force, political interference in law enforcement, and so much more. He shed light on anti crime measures, youth programmes to get gangs off the streets, the prison outbreak and the so called Buxton Uprising, Fineman gang, Phantom Gang and individuals tied to them, Lusignan and Bartica Massacres, capture of violent criminals, Roger Khan, drug trafficking, Colombian connection, his training in the UK, USA, Brazil, shootouts with violent criminals, corruption among some elements of the force, declining morale, political directives of the coalition and much more.
He was dismayed by the corruption among some police officers especially among the old guard, and it is fair to say that the corrupt were upset with him for cracking down on them. He made passing reference to Burnhamism and banning of foods.
He described his experiences with politicians including President Cheddi Jagan, Bharrat Jagdeo, Donald Ramotar, David Granger, Khemraj Ramjattan, Basil Williams, and Winston Felix. He also gave accounts of how some of his colleagues undermined him.
Seelall came to be known as a tough leader, a fixer of problems not afraid to address complex matters. His interest in fighting crime cannot be denied. Although the GPF was politically compromised during the dictatorship, and had a bias towards the PNC, he acted professionally and did not take political sides. He was quite upset when he was told that police officers were expected to vote PNC and when instructed how to vote, marking the X next to the PNC palm tree in the December 1985 fraudulent election witnessed by his commander. He accepted at the time that was the way things were done in the force – politically compromised. After working with various departments within the GPF, including overseeing intelligence, and when he became PC, Seelall tried to transform the force. He tried to slash crime rates and professionalized the vocation of the cop by providing computerized training in filing reports. Seelall tried to use computers to revolutionize the force especially in reporting and keeping tab of crimes and to combat crime with modern data-driven policing. Efforts at reform were stymied. He did not receive support from the then coalition administration to modernize and reform the force.
Seelall’s career has not been without controversy, certainly under the PNC-led coalition administration. There was the crisis of relations between himself and the coalition, a crisis inflamed by a virtual non-issue relating to then President, David Granger. Seelall was sent on leave while an inquiry was launched into why he did not investigate a benign (non-serious, jovial) threat against Granger that was reported some five months later and that turned out to be bogus after investigation. It was a plot to get rid of Seelall hatched by a senior officer. The case against Seelall fell apart. Yet, he was not kept in his substantive position and unjustifiably sent on leave till retirement age.
Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram
