Members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) recently benefited from US training on case management and interviewing suspects and witnesses.
A release from the police today noted that the U.S. Government through the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs launched the Strengthening of the Criminal Justice System in Guyana project in September 2016. The goal of the project is to strengthen the integrity and responsiveness of Guyana’s justice system.
In response to requests by the GPF, the release said that the project continues to work with the Force to improve the capacity of GPF ranks to conduct investigations of major crimes and to interview witnesses and suspects in major crime cases.
To that end, the project organized several activities in January 2018, including:
- A five-day training on major case management for investigators for 31 ranks on January 15-19;
- A five-day training on major case management for investigators for 34 ranks on January 22-26;
- A five-day coaching activity on interviewing for previously-trained ranks on January 15-19;
- A five-day training on interviewing witnesses and suspects in major crime cases on January 22-26.
Canadian experts Superintendent Douglas Kiloh (retired) and Superintendent James Hardy (retired) travelled to Guyana to conduct the major case management for investigators training. The release said that both Kiloh and Hardy have over 30 years of experience in policing, and extensive exposure to major criminal investigations. The release said that drawing on their experience and using a mock robbery scenario and real-life examples, the trainers led sessions on the principles of major case management, as well as the tools and techniques available to investigators to aid them in conducting investigations.
The project also involved four local GPF trainers to assist in the delivery of the January 15-19 course and to conduct and facilitate several sessions. These trainers will eventually take over the teaching of the entire course. In addition, the project drew on local project-trained GPF ranks to expose participants to other areas of expertise within the Police Force that may be relevant to investigations of major crime. In particular, the release said that Head of the GPF Forensic Video Analysis unit conducted a presentation on forensic video, while a project-trained police prosecutor came in to answer participants’ questions on elements of offence.
Canadian interviewing expert Inspector Donald Adam (retired) conducted training for GPF ranks on interviewing witnesses and suspects in the context of major crimes.
Over the years, the police have come in for sharp criticism over their handling of investigations and collating of evidence.
