Security guards usually undergo careful checks -Amres, Khan
By Courtney Jones
The managing director and the chief executive officer (CEO) of two of the largest security firms in Guyana have said that Securicor, the British security firm based in Trinidad, cannot be held culpable for the actions of its late employee, multiple killer, Raul Herod. Questions have been raised about the fact that Herod, an operations supervisor, had a weapon on a 24-hour basis in his possession. However, both CEO of GEB Security Services Inc, Maurice Amres, amd Managing Director of RK Security, Roshan Khan, stated that Securicor had an excellent track record in the security business in Guyana and stuck rigidly to all rules and regulations governing the industry. Herod of 121 Side Line Dam, Buxton slaughtered seven members of his family including his mother and two of his children before setting fire to the family house and committing suicide early Wednesday morning. The only survivor was Herod's ten-year-old son Jermaine, who escaped in spite of being shot in the jaw by his enraged father. Khan and Amres told Stabroek News that persons employed in a security firm at the level at which Herod operated were expected and trained to carry a firearm on a 24-hour basis. Herod used a .32 Taurus automatic pistol, which carries a nine-round ammunition clip (he reportedly had two such clips), to kill the family members including four children. His 97-year-old grandmother Angela Herod died in the flames after he had torched the house. According to Khan, the law governing the establishment of security services clearly spells out that all prospective employees must be very carefully vetted by the agency and by the police. Khan said propective guards at any security agency must submit to a thorough medical examination and in effect a medical profiling process. He stated that if any flaw is detected in the person's character traits the doctor has the power to immediately reject that person as a prospective guard. Khan also said that the vetting process done by the police involves a check by police special branch operatives, and at the successful conclusion of all these processes the guards are inducted into the police force as supernumary constables. Khan said that it was only after this process that persons were trained by the police in the use of firearms, including familiarising themselves with the various components of weapons and actual firing exercises. "The police force has over the years developed an excellent system of training for supernumary constables in guard services," Khan said. After this the security firms carry out their own in-house training in areas such as escort duties, stripping and cleaning of weapons and "dry firing," which involves exercises with weapons without live rounds, Khan said.
Both Khan and Amres said their senior personnel are authorised to carry firearms on a 24-hour basis and that they are screened even more thoroughly than other guards. Khan was critical of statements attributed to Home Affairs Minister, Ronald Gajraj, that the Buxton incident was of national importance particularly as it related to the issuance of firearms to security companies and guards. Gajraj, speaking to reporters at the murder/arson/suicide scene on Wednesday, had said his ministry would have to take greater care with the operations of security firms and the manner in which they issue firearms to their employees. "I am very disappointed with the minister's comments. It was obvious that he did not take the time to confer with the police commissioner to get a greater insight into the workings of the security services," Khan said. Khan and Amres, who is also the president of the Guyana Association of Private Security Companies (GAPSEC), concurred that it was obvious from media reports that the tragedy at Buxton had to be attributed largely to the lack of adequate housing, not only in the East Coast Demerara village, but throughout Guyana. "Whatever problems the family had was compounded by the fact that three generations of Herods were packed in a small shack," Khan said, adding that he felt the situation had gotten to the stage where, even if Herod had no gun, he would have found something else with which to carry out his attack. Amres said he was convinced that it was the human element and not any negligence on the part of Securicor that was the main cause for the Buxton massacre. He stated that the company, which is contracted to guard among other places, the British High Commission, has shown in the past that it was quite capable of training and managing its security staff. But he acknowledged that even though all established security companies have strict rules and regulations governing the conduct of their employees, there could come a time when somebody would "break away," with an incident like the tragedy at Buxton as the result. Amres said that the 12 security companies which comprise GAPSEC would meet shortly to discuss matters affecting the association in the light of the massacre. 
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