Though not unprecedented, what transpired in two city communities over the last few days underlines the insidious loss of respect for the rule of law, the grave dangers posed to citizens and ineffective policing.
On Tuesday night, there was a brawl in Sophia involving the spouses of two women who had had a dispute earlier in the day. It was fistic and as is customary a crowd gathered to witness what was happening and to egg on one side or the other. In the midst of the commotion, a man wearing a hoodie walked up and let loose a fusillade at the combatants and the spectators. It is unclear if he had chosen a side or had a stake in the matter. When the smoke cleared, he had melted away and four persons lay injured.
Abdool Joshua Kamal, a 32-year-old welder sustained one gunshot wound to his left shoulder; Shellon Collins, a 23-year-old shopkeeper suffered one gunshot wound to the left side of her face; Omale Dick, 27-year-old labourer was hit by three bullets – two to the abdomen and one to the left thigh and Quincy Hoyte, a 33-year-old labourer was wounded in the lower back. Each of the four and others that night could well have ended up dead; a common neighbourhood dispute had been transformed into the gun violence plaguing the region.
None of the sides appeared to have taken their complaint to the police, neither did the police put in appearance at the height of the confrontation. To aggravate matters, the gunman who must have been known to many in the area easily fled the scene. Nearly a week after the police are yet to apprehend him.
Things got even more serious on Thursday during a property dispute. Ezekiel Subhan, a 25-year-old private of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), was at home with his 23-year-old reputed wife when he heard someone knocking on the door of his West Ruimveldt home. He answered the door and was confronted by a man accompanied by six other men who told him that he had to vacate the dwelling.
The GDF private refused to do so and an argument ensued between him and the men. By this time a sizeable crowd had gathered and one of the enforcers took out a handgun and fired six shots, killing Dexter Horsham, a construction worker and injuring Corwyne Abraham, a 38-year-old taxi driver. The gunman and his associates then fled the scene in the vehicle they arrived in. Up to now, none of the seven has been apprehended.
As stated in the SN editorial of August 6th, incidents such as these highlight the prevalence of guns in the society and the continued inability of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to keep citizens safe. In the case of the Sophia incident two things stand out: the intent to use a firearm – most likely illegal – indiscriminately and the inability of law enforcement to apprehend the shooter and charge him with attempted murder and other offences.
The West Ruimveldt case has also asked other disturbing questions about the police and their investigations. On Friday, the police issued a wanted bulletin for Majesty Anthony Fernandes. He was the person to whom the vehicle used by the enforcers was registered. Mr Fernandes then let it be known that he was overseas and could not possibly have been involved in the incident that resulted in Mr Horsham’s death. Since it is hardly likely that the police would issue a wanted bulletin for a man just so that he could be asked who had used his vehicle, the law enforcers were probably not aware at all that Mr Fernandes was not in the country. Their intelligence was poor. What about all the CCTV cameras that the state has invested in – the reputedly safe city network? Why didn’t these pick up any of the seven men and their abandoning of the vehicle in question? The time has arrived for a full statement on how many cameras have been installed in the city, how many are working, who is monitoring the feeds on a daily business and what action if any is taken.
Nine days after former Chief Education Officer, Olato Sam was fatally shot outside a Plaisance bar the police seem to have no clue as to his shooter despite the fact that the two men across the road, one of whom discharged the fatal bullet had to have been known to the people in the community. The only significant development in the case seems to have been the wounding of a man who appeared to be acting strangely as the police were investigating the killing.
Ever since the accession of the government to office in 2020 and more particularly the ascension of Clifton Hicken to the post of Commissioner of Police, the GPF has invested an inordinate amount of resources to engage with communities as a means of either creating an environment of peace and happiness that would be less conducive to crime or gaining the confidence of the public so that intelligence could be gathered and pre-emptive action taken.
It seems that entertainment has become a prime unit of policing – from cooking competitions, to sport, to singing contests. These things are not working and lower the image of policing in the eyes of the public. Serious and credible policing is what will win the confidence of the public, not charity matches or bouts of boxing. The recent extension to the acting tenure of Mr Hicken is a sign that President Ali is not yet ready to grapple with a substantive appointment to this very crucial post. That act sends its own signal about the lack of seriousness surrounding policing and the continued erosion of law and order.
