Dear Editor,
In your editorial of September 15, very appropriately captioned, ‘Dark crime clouds,’ you painted a very ominous picture of the escalating crime rate in Guyana, and asked, “With the quantitative and qualitative changes in the crime scenario in our country, one would have assumed that appropriate changes would have been implemented in our crime-fighting outfits – especially the police force. Not so. There has been a lot of talk, and a lot of money spent, but to no effect. How can there be any change without a change of strategy?”
Let me reiterate something I’ve said before: When a team continues to suffer defeat, it is time to replace the captain, or the coach, or both. Regular police officers should not have to bear the burden of guilt for losing the battle against this ongoing crime surge; their leader should.
I vividly recall one day in 1979 when a friend visiting Guyana from the Ukraine was mugged in Tiger Bay. He lost his wallet with credit cards and some money, his watch and his Ray Ban sunglasses. After relaying the incident to me, I took him to Brickdam Police Station and made a report. Minutes later, I took a police detective from the CID to Tiger Bay. He got out and instructed me to lock my car doors for my safety and to keep the engine running. Ten minutes later, he returned and instructed me to drive him to the Parade Ground where a group of men were playing football. He left the car, approached the group, and returned with one of the guys. I took them back to Tiger Bay and waited about half an hour for the police officer to return. When he did, he had my friend’s wallet minus the money, his watch, and the Ray Ban sunglasses. I was amazed, and commended him on some brilliant police work that resulted in the recovery of the stolen items in record time. This police officer was resourceful, motivated, and very professional.
Every day, we depend on the professionalism of these police officers for their protection; yet they are grossly underpaid for the personal risks they take every time they put on that uniform. Although I believe the Guyana police to be the best in the region at fighting crime, they are not respected, appreciated, nor admired, and they become the target of critics when crime gets out of control as it is now. Admittedly, the public is totally justified to be outraged at those corrupt ranks that use the service to extort the public through bribery. But as long as police officers remain poorly paid, corruption remains a serious problem, and compromises the proper administration of justice.
Although I have no way of proving this, I feel sure morale must be very low among the ranks. Every day it seems another brutal murder is committed, the drug trade is escalating, more guns on the street, more domestic violence and more robberies. The latest to reach national prominence being the senseless murder of Sheema Mangar, who was brutally run over by a low-life scoundrel who had earlier stolen her cell phone. So I must conclude that these acts must have a negative and intimidating effect on law enforcement.
In an article published in the Guyana Review on May 31, ‘The failure of Guyana’s National Drug Strategy Master Plan,’ the author, David A Granger wrote, “As narcotics-trafficking ballooned into a big business, the criminal violence associated with it in Guyana has frightened foreign investors, driven away the local educated élite, undermined economic growth, impeded social development and jeopardised human welfare… Apart from criminal violence, social problems such as substance abuse and addiction, insanity, imprisonment, sexually-transmitted diseases, prostitution, vagrancy and ‘wandering’ among girls have become the narcotics trade’s most obvious social consequences.” This article is recommended reading.
Editor, the Minister of Home Affairs must take full responsibility for this escalating crime rate, and the failure of the Guyana Police Force to prevent these tragedies before they occur. Since his appointment as Minister of Home Affairs in September 2006, Minister Clement Rohee has done very little to inspire confidence in the members of the Guyana Police Force and the Guyanese people. Incompetence should not be rewarded or ignored. As such, Mr Rohee’s failure to effectively manage the Ministry of Home Affairs, must thwart any hope of him ever seeking higher office. Every day Guyanese live in fear of the spate of violent crimes that are destroying the very fabric of this young nation, and there’s no end in sight. Police Commissioner Henry Greene is a career professional who rose through the ranks and acquired a wealth of knowledge, skills and experience. But it seems that his hands are tied as he’s forced to follow the dictates of the administration. For the sake of all Guyanese, Minister Rohee should do the decent thing and resign this portfolio. In lieu of this, President Jagdeo should replace him with someone who is truly competent, and who can provide Commissioner Henry Greene and his men with all the resources to get the job done – starting with a pay increase.
Yours faithfully,
Harry Gill
New York
