With the decision made to change the name of the Felix Austin Police College to the Guyana Police Force Academy, many questions linger as to who opted for the renaming and the reason(s) behind it.
Stabroek News yesterday made several attempts to contact the head of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Corporate Communications Unit, Mark Ramotar, but the calls went unanswered. Calls were made to Stan Gouveia, Deputy Director, who said that they had no information on the renaming. The newspaper was referred to recently promoted Assistant Commissioner Calvin Brutus.
However when Brutus was asked the question, he replied, “I have no comment on that” and abruptly ended the call.
The renaming was advertised on the GPF’s Facebook page where it stated “The Guyana Police Force has taken a decision to change the name of the Felix Austin Police College to the Guyana Police Force Academy. We invite interested artists and designers to submit a LOGO and SLOGAN design for the Academy.”
According to the post, submissions will end on Thursday, July 28th, 2022 at 12:00 hours and the winner would receive $300,000.
The Police Training School which was the institution responsible for the recruitment and training of police ranks, had eventually gained the ranking of college, and was renamed the Felix Austin Police College on August 28, 1987.
In a letter to the Editor published in yesterday’s Stabroek News, former Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) and retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, Paul Slowe, expressed his disappointment with the Force’s aim to retitle the college and hoped for the decision to be reconsidered.
“I asked myself whether this is a deliberate effort to erase or re-write the history of the Guyana Police Force, which recently observed its 183rd anniversary… what’s next?” he questioned in his letter.
According to Slowe, “Felix Austin, Esq., DSS, OPM, CPM, was appointed Commissioner of Police on January, 1967, thus becoming the first Guyanese Police Commissioner after the country attained Independence.”
The retired Assistant Commissioner went on to say, “Mr. Felix Wilton Austin (4356) joined the British Guiana Police Force on March 5, 1936, after relinquishing his job as a primary school teacher. He was promoted corporal in 1946, Sergeant in 1947, Sub-inspector in 1953, Assistant Superintendent in 1954, Deputy Superintendent in 1958, Superintendent in 1959, and Senior Superintendent in 1964. His rapid advancement through the ranks during the colonial era is testimony to his outstanding ability as a policeman.”
Slowe further noted during Austin’s time in the Force, he founded the Police Literary and Debating Section of the Police Sports Club along with a founding member of the Police Male Voice Choir where he then became Chairman. He was also a militant member of the Police Federation (now Police Association).
A branch the police training facility which was built in 1990 at Adventure on the Corentyne, Berbice, was also named Felix Austin Police College “B” Division. (Aviso Paul)
