DFC presents report to Parliament, several recommendations made
GINA
May 19, 2004
Related Links: Articles on Disciplined Forces Commission
Letters Menu Archival Menu


Georgetown, GINA, May 19, 2004

The Disciplined Forces Commission (DFC) report on the work and operations of the Disciplined Forces was presented and circulated in the National Assembly on Monday May 17, 2004.
The report proposed several recommendations to the National Assembly on the Reform of the Disciplined Forces: the Guyana Police Force, the Joint Services, the Guyana Prison Service and the Guyana Fire Service.

The Government Information Agency will over the next few days look at recommendations made by the DFC for changes in the various forces.

Guyana Police Force
Under the functions and operations of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), it was recommended that a preventative policing policy should be revived and effectuated.

The DFC said most presenters who appeared before the Commission placed emphasis on the need to strengthen its investigative capabilities. However, it noted that while this is necessary, “the mistake can easily be made of addressing the need for developing the investigative capabilities of the GPF without first addressing the need to strengthen its foremost preventative capacity.

“It is a defeatist position to seek to place reliance more on the reactive function of investigative policing rather than on the pro-active function of preventative policing.”
The report also recommended that the non-entrance and non-exiting of illicit drugs should be a focus of the GPF.

It recommended, too, that:
• A sound national criminal intelligence system should be established and maintained

• The GPF should be encouraged to identify potential informants and gain their trust

• Ill-considered transfers of Force members, so as not to disrupt well-established information networks, should be avoided

• The name and place in the Forces’ structure of the special squad like the “Black Clothes” should be clarified for public information

• Strict control, careful selection, training, re-training, discipline, special rotation of membership and the requirement that those who are not working on undercover duties wear clearly identifiable uniform, should be enforced for members of special squads

• More personnel should be trained in handwriting, fingerprinting, ballistics and related fields and they should be deployed in the divisions so as to reduce such investigations reaching the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters

• A consistent level of “services and protection” to the public on a 24-hour basis should be provided. The report noted, “very beneficent nature of the primary function of the GPF to protect and serve the public should endear members of the GPF to the public and attract public cooperation.”

It added, “Members of the GPF, especially those whose duties involve dealing with interfacing with the public, must be properly educated and instructed as to become inseparably wedded to the fundamental notion that they have a public duty to protect and serve the society and the society has the right to their service and protection under the public law.”

• The GPF should be trained to remain unmoved and dispassionate during provocation

Under the structure of the Police Force, the Commission, based on presentation of various bodies, recommended that more sub-division and police stations should be established and police presence increased, especially in new housing areas such as Sophia and increased crime risk areas.

The Commission also recommended that:

• The Police Force should stop training private security personnel

• Members of the Special Constabulary should be allowed to function as GPF reserves

Recruitment and Training
The Commission suggests that the attractiveness of the police career should be enhanced by a review of salary structure and substantial increases in remuneration.

• The probationary period should be used to dispense with personnel with undesirable character traits before they become entrenched in the Force.

The Commission recognises that the lowering of standards in society poses a problem of recruiting persons of the right quality.

Proper and effective training and strict discipline must be considered as all-important for all members of the GPF.

“They cannot allow themselves to be provoked into uncouth behaviour, uncivil language and oppressive conduct,” the Commission reported.

It also proposed that the GPF members should be trained to appreciate the value of being community-friendly, so as not to alienate the public. They should also be trained in courtesy and politeness.

Investigators, the Commission recommended, should be trained to fully and comprehensively investigate criminal allegations.

Also, there should be proper instruction classes about constitutional safeguards relevant to police functions such as powers of arrests and granting of bail.

A Police Academy should be established (with at least one intake of cadets every year).

Ethnic Balance
The DFC recommended strongly that it should be an aim to achieve a Force representative of the ethnic diversity of the nation without employing a quota system, which would be constitutionally offensive. It said a forensic audit should be carried out of current trends of recruitment.

It also recommended that a policy, different from that for recruitment, should be employed to provide inducements, such as better conditions of work, for all ethnic groups to remain in the GPF.

In this regard, the report noted that the membership of the GPF should be augmented, especially as regards Indo-Guyanese, without introducing conscription.