After nearly four months of work, the Disciplined Forces Commission's interim report into the Guyana Police Force(GPF) says the government should develop a five-year plan to address the force's needs.
It notes that the GPF needs an extensive investment of resources to bring it to the required standard.
"Many of the changes we propose are long overdue, and some were indeed proposed years ago; their implementation must not be any further delayed," the commission says in the introduction to the 196-page report.
The commission was set up by the National Assembly to inquire into the operations of the Disciplined Forces to make recommendations for their reform and sustained development.
Future equipment, computerisation and communication needs are among the areas which the commission says ought to be addressed in the government plan, having regard to the extensive work done by the GPF in its own submission to the commission.
Before it produces its final report, the commission would expect to have reviewed the government's plan, which should cover 2004-2009, indicate proposed priorities, include a timetable for implementation and the budgetary allocation required.
This is to ensure that the needs of the force are met including appropriate pay increases, with allowances especially for new recruits; the accommodation needs for a full establishment of staff; adequate equipment, including vehicles; effective communication systems, including improved telephone and computer links between the public and the police, and a comprehensive programme of computerisation; the provision of adequate new police buildings and outposts; and the effective management and organisational structures and the re-organisational steps that such arrangements would require.
The commission notes that Guyana has faced an unprecedented rise in serious violent crime, which the security forces have been unable to adequately counter.
"The commission does not assume that the wave of violence is a thing of the past, and instead believes that it partially reflects problems faced elsewhere in the hemisphere and around the world and that future policing should be looked at against this background."
The interim report examines the functions and operations of the GPF and makes recommendations on how these can be optimised.
Training, according to the report, needs to be ongoing and closely linked to promotions.
Consideration is given to the clarification of extra-judicial killings and the consequent need for balance between public understanding of police powers and police discipline in the exercise of those powers. The balance to be held between the policeman's authority to use force and to refrain from abuse of that power is addressed.
On the subject of community policing, the report emphasises the need to draw the line between vigilante justice and legitimate GPF-supported protection of life and property by citizens.
The report also reminds that policing is not separate from the other elements in the criminal justice system and must not be blamed for some of the failings.
"Inordinate delays in holding inquests, delays and failings in the court system, and weaknesses in communication between the police/the DPP/the courts, have led to a crisis in confidence in the whole system."
The commission says changes in policing will not have the intended impact if they are not complemented by major changes in the wider criminal justice system.
Meanwhile, the commission, cognisant of the scepticism about the report and the implementation of the recommendations, also sought to allay the concerns of witnesses who pointed out that reports on similar topics are languishing on library shelves. "Once our inquiry is completed, we will be addressing this concern in our final report, and suggesting some ways to reassure individual citizens, the police and society that any agreed changes are fully implemented."
Meanwhile, Commissioner Maggie Beirne, who resigned from the commission on December 1 when her stint here came to an end, has written an appendix to the report in which she comments on issues with which she has serious reservations. Her comments were addressed to community policing, ethnic balance, extra judicial executions and the principle of independence, topics on which she "sought in the course of debate amendments to the text. These efforts were either unsuccessful or, in my view, insufficiently successful. It may be that the commissioners will address these concerns more fully in their final report".
Referring to the commission's suggestion that some form of system be put in place to insure implementation of recommendations, Beirne noted that in her experience in Northern Ireland an external (international) mechanism overseeing the process made a positive contribution to the policing reform programme. She said that while this may not be required here, the National Assembly should consider regular review of the commission's final report.
The Disciplined Forces Commission began its review of the Guyana Police Force in August 2003. It was given a six-month timeframe within which to gather information and produce a final report. That deadline will expire in February 2004.