A new foundation has been launched to support the families of police officers who die on the job.
The Guyana Police Force Fallen Heroes Foundation Inc, which is the result of collaboration between the force and the Cops and Faith Commun-ity Network, was launched on Thursday at the Police Officers’ Training Centre, at Police Headquarters, Eve Leary, where it received over $3.7M in donations from private companies.
According to President of the Foundation Rev. Raphael Massiah, its primary objective is to support the educational needs of the children of fallen police officers while offering other forms of support to family members.
Massiah emphasised the dire situations with which families of fallen ranks are often left to contend.
Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan and Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence, who were present at the launch, both commended the initiative and each handed over cheques of $100,000 to support it.
Ramjattan, who said the initiative will enhance the solidarity of the force, announced that more initiatives will be launched to improve the lives of ranks and their families. Among these, he said, is a group insurance policy that should be implemented as early as January, 2016 and he called on the ranks to support the initiative.
Ramjattan also noted the commitment demonstrated by the New York City Police Department after Guyanese Randolph Holder, who was one of its members, was killed while on duty and he said it was an example which can be emulated in the treatment of fallen ranks in Guyana.
Minister Lawrence, in her address at the launch, said she was very happy that the idea for the Foundation has become a reality.
She said many young people join the police force and they should be assured that they are a part of a family that will support them, in life or death.
The new organisation was conceptualised by Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud, who noted that the death of a police officer often results in the displacement of children, poverty and mental breakdown.
He highlighted some of the officers who were killed while on duty. They included Romain Cleto, a Corporal who was killed in Georgetown, in 2013. He was survived by his wife and a three-year-old child.
Also killed in 2013 was Constable Sherwin Pantlitz, whose wife was left to care for their two children.
After she began to suffer psychologically, the force opted to offer her employment, Persaud said.
Persaud also noted the most recent incident where Antonio Dawson, a father of two, was killed while on duty.
The Guyana Police Force subsequently announced in a statement that at the conclusion of the launch, donations were made by representatives of several private companies and businesses, inclusive of Roraima Group of Companies and Industrial Safety Supplies, totaling in excess of $3.7M.
