Poor response to reports of abuse, victimization of residents by police and harassment of foreigners who are not fluent in English were among the issues raised by Barticians at an outreach held by the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) over the weekend.
Fear of victimization, one resident told Stabroek News, resulted in the poor turn out to the PCA’s outreach. Police offered to secure the venues for the outreach, but this was declined because residents expressed fear that these same officers would target them for making complaints.
“These people are so fearful of the police,” the resident stated. “They are fearful of the police.”
PCA Chairman Cecil Kennard visited the mining community on Friday and arranged to meet residents during two sessions at different locations in Bartica on Saturday. One session was held at a resident’s house from 8.30 pm to 12 pm and the second from 1.30 pm to 4 pm at the Platinum Hotel.
The resident, who requested anonymity, told this newspaper that six residents showed up at the first session and only one at the second. “People are afraid to come to these things and voice their complaints… this is a small community and word will eventually leak out about who made the complaints and these people will be victimized,” the resident said.
During the first session, the resident said, concerns were raised about the way police treat reports especially those of domestic violence and other forms of abuse. In many cases, residents said, police do not even bother to visit the scene of the reported crime or investigate the matter.
“Several of the persons who were at the morning session of the outreach said that in many cases they or people they know had to give officers a raise before they would go the scene,” the resident said.
Miners who use the Potaro Road to get into the gold mining areas also face great police harassment, residents also reported. In many cases, some ranks journey down the road, wait for truck drivers, who have made a long and taxing journey, and tell them that they want to search their vehicles and they will have to return to the Bartica Police Station for the search to be executed.
“Now making a return journey like that is inconvenient and very expensive for the miner and the police would know this so in many cases a man would prefer to pay up a $10,000 to avoid making the return journey,” the resident further reported.
Foreigners, mostly Brazilians who frequent the area, have also been complaining about police harassment, the resident said. During the outreach residents related to Kennard that in many instances rogue ranks target and haul in these foreigners.
“What you find is that in many cases these men have their documents in order but because they are not fluent in the English Language they cannot speak for their rights and in many cases Brazilians have complained through interpreters about being searched by police and having their money taken away and then being asked to leave the searching point,” the resident said.
These complaints, the resident said, were noted by the PCA chairman who pledged to deal with them as best as his office allowed.
Several efforts made to contact Kennard or relevant police officials for a comment regarding the issues raised at the Bartica outreach were futile.
Meanwhile, Kennard was also invited to speak on local television show ‘The People’s Voice’ which is hosted by Bartician Winston Miller Snr. The show is aired every Sunday from 5.30 pm to 6.30 pm on TTS (Tarzie’s Television Station) Channel 5.
Miller, who spoke with this newspaper briefly on Sunday, said that many Barticians call in to the programme to make complaints about various issues they have had with police. He expressed disappointment that many did not make the effort to attend the PCA’s outreach and voice these complaints.
Earlier this year, Miller was reportedly brutalized by several ranks and is blind in one eye as a result of the incident. Kennard, the man told Stabroek News, delivered a letter to him from Commissioner of Police Henry Greene.
The letter, Miller said, indicated that the case is still being investigated and the file is currently with the Director of Public Prosecutions. This, Miller indicated, has been the status of his case for some time now.
