Dear Editor,
The nation continues to reel from the ravages of what appears to be an uncontrollable crime spree. Those of us with our ears to the ground know that only a fraction of the horrors make it to the police and the press. Dozens of victims suffer silently without reporting their cases to the police for various reasons, including but not limited to the lack of confidence in the institutional efficiency of the force as well as a lack of trust in the premier law enforcement agency in the land.
A crime wave is not new to Guyana and Guyanese. The functional incompetence which afflicts the police force did not start with the new government. So I do not wish anyone to jump to the conclusion that I am placing the blame exclusively at the feet of the new administration. However, as the government in charge of the apparatus of the state, it is indeed their unmitigated responsibility to ensure that there is public safety.
In 2003, Mr David Granger and I sat on the Disciplined Forces Commission and the major plank of his contribution related to public safety. In fact, he advocated since then for the establishment of a Ministry of Public Safety. He made reality that aspiration when he assumed the presidency. Ridding Guyana of violent crimes and creating a safer nation was a major platform upon which the coalition campaigned for the May 11] general and regional elections. The AFC leadership promised their Indo-Guyanese constituency that under a Granger-led government with so many ex-military and ex-police officers on board, they would be safe.
Speaking for myself, I felt that the one area that the new government boasts professed competence was in the security arena. I was driven to this conclusion largely because of the number of trained personnel in this field which the government has in its ranks, or at least has access to coupled with the political support which the PNC demonstrably and historically enjoys from both the police force and the military.
However, every passing day proves me wrong. It is the government’s response which I find most mindboggling. The decision of President Granger to pardon 60 convicted criminals with the ethereal admonition “go forth and sin no more” has only added more fuel to the inferno.
The first significant response from the Minister of Public Safety was to close bars at 2 am. Thus far, only he sees a causal connection between bars opening after 2 am and the rise in crime. Every other Guyanese knows that these crimes are committed at any hour, and most of them in broad daylight. Expectedly, the closure of bars at 2 am has had and will have no impact on the crime situation. As if to add salt to the wounds inflicted by the bandits, this Minister made a decision to take away from the Community Policing Groups, throughout the country, all the vehicles which were given to them to assist in the discharge of their functions as they seek to protect their communities. So citizens not only have to endure the unquestionable incapacity of the police to respond to calls when crimes are in progress, now their own capacity to respond has been hampered by this decision of the Minister, one which I dare say is inexplicable.
The nation was next met with another bizarre announcement “Government to craft a plan to fight crime”. This is indeed shocking. Most people believed that the government had a plan already. In fact, they were led to so believe during the elections campaign by almost every speaker on the coalition platform. We now realize that it was a hoax. However, the nation was fortunate to be informed of snippets of what the plan entails. Incredibly, it includes the acquisition of horses and dogs! No SWAT team or quick reaction group or its equivalent; no joint services operations between the police and army; no mechanism to assure quicker response of the police to crime scenes; no plan to have greater police presence in communities. Why? I will surmise that it is because these were all strategies utilized by the PPP/C administration and they were roundly and consistently criticized by the joint opposition and I dare say, most times, without merit. Now they are in the unenvious position of not being able to utilize them for the phobia of public criticisms for doing precisely what they publicly condemned the PPP for doing.
But they are faced with but yet another more complex political quagmire. The government must know that a bold and aggressive response by the police is needed at this point in time. They also must know that such a response will yield allegations of extra-judicial killings and police harassment as inevitable consequences. There are no other issues over the last 20 years that have exacted a more strident and consistent condemnation from the PNC than allegations of extra-judicial killings and police harassment. They persistently used it as a most potent political weapon to emotively mobilize to their political advantage. It will now be their Achilles heel. Let us see how they will extricate themselves from this conundrum. However, the nation will not be patient much longer.
Yours faithfully,
Mohabir Anil Nandlall
