Dear Editor,
I am asking all decent law-abiding citizens to voice their support for Assistant Superintendent McBean. This police officer unselfishly and at great personal and financial sacrifice accepted advanced police training that would benefit the citizens of Guyana, only to be told that he hadn’t followed protocol and had been dismissed from the police force to which he had dedicated his life.

Recruits are expected to enforce laws that some of them can’t even read.  Do they want bright, sharp and ambitious officers like Asst Supt McBean who can think for himself and come up with his own conclusions? They are just giving the impression that he is a threat to the status quo.

During 2003-2004 when tension between the police and citizens was high, it was Mr McBean who was the Officer-in-Charge in New Amsterdam. He invited some secondary schoolchildren on several occasions to the police station to see the operations of the police, and helped to heal the growing divide that was permeating our country.

His dismissal is a real slap in the face to everything good which the Guyana Police Force stands for. Training is so important in any organization if it wants to survive. It appears as though we cannot conduct a proper investigation without torturing to extract information; there are several investigations that the police have undertaken over the years without conclusion; and they lack forensic capability – all because of lack of training. Just take a look at all the unsolved murders and crimes in our nation over the past years: Minister Sash Sawh; Kaieteur News pressmen; and Lindo Creek, just to name a few. Now this ambitious officer took the initiative to seek self-improvement that will benefit the GPF and citizens, and he is dismissed.

I am therefore appealing to all organizations with good moral values to support this outstanding young officer.
Yours faithfully,
Sydney Tait