`Keep your hands clean’
-- Crime Chief tells cops
Guyana Chronicle
July 7, 2004
DEPUTY Commissioner of Police Henry Greene has challenged members of the Police Force to keep their hands clean in the continuing drive to restore confidence in the law enforcement agency.
While some hold the view that the Police Force is not capable to deal with the situation in the country, the Crime Chief yesterday said he was confident the force is capable.
“We have always and will always be on top if we decide to work, and we can only do that if we keep our hands clean”, he added.
Greene was addressing Senior Detectives at the opening of a four-week training programme in Basic Photography and Finger Printing at the Felix Austin Police College in Eve Leary, Georgetown yesterday.
He pointed to efforts by Police Commissioner Winston Felix to create a new image for the force and urged the cops to fit within that picture.
Commenting on a recent initiative within the Police Force, which is part of recreating a more positive image to restore public confidence, he noted that the vision of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for the future is to provide safe communities where citizens can co-exist in peace.
Emphasising the need for them to rapidly improve themselves and increase their knowledge, he pointed to an urgent need to fill a huge gap that will be made when four senior detectives retire later this year
He promised the detectives that if they take their job seriously, they would get the support of the administration and reminded them that if they did their investigations, and have the evidence, they could go ahead and arrest perpetrators of crime.
Greene expressed concern that witnesses are reluctant to provide confidential information to police officers for fear that the information will be leaked out and the informants exposed.
When the public comes with information, cops should preserve their identity and not betray their trust, he stressed.
He also bemoaned the lack of details in reports and lauded the organisers for focussing on the development of communication skills.
The objectives of the training programme are to:
* Increase competence in the use of Standard English in written and spoken communication.
* Enhance the inflections and construction of the English Language.
* Develop competence in the search for evidence at scenes of crime.
* Display improved ability to conduct investigations in accordance with the Judge’s Rules.
* Develop ranks as fingerprint technicians to enhance performance at crime scenes.
* Train participants in basic photography to assist them in the day-to-day operations at crime scenes.