On March 28th, the Office of the President issued a release in which it was stated that President Ali had appointed Deputy Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken to act in the Office of the Commissioner of Police. This appointment took effect from March 30th and was necessitated by the departure on March 27th on pre-retirement leave of the former Commissioner of Police (ag) Nigel Hoppie. The appointment of Mr Hicken was in breach of the Constitution which has specific requirements and was excused by the government via the doctrine of necessity.
Needless to say, the substantive appointment of the next Commissioner of Police is an important decision in the context of the general debilitated state of policing in this country and the major challenges that lie ahead. Given his elevation to the acting position it was not unexpected that Mr Hicken would seek to establish his authority and engage in outreaches. However, if one didn’t know better, it would appear that Mr Hicken has embarked on a full-scale campaign to be named the new Commissioner as evidenced by his stentorian tones at a parade of meetings and outreaches last week.
On April 4th, he told a meeting of sergeants: “Be professional and stop harassing persons. Do everything to forge and strengthen police and community relations. We need to stop harassing and bullying members of the public, we need to desist from these random and unnecessary traffic stops and searches, we must regain the public’s trust and confidence and we must do everything in our power to rebuild and improve the image of the Force and regain the trust of the people”.
A day later in an address to inspectors, Mr Hicken went even further while addressing the sensitive matter of diversity in the police force. “We must have an all-inclusive Guyana Police Force, one that is professional and self-sufficient”, he said, adding “that diversity will see an amalgamation of cultures from the six races”.
At this meeting, the Force’s Strategic Plan for 2022 to 2026 was addressed and Mr Hicken also ill-advisedly adopted President Ali’s inchoate `One Guyana’ concept stating “Based on what transpires here and as we go forward, henceforth, we are going to move in one direction as one Police Force. I assure you that the ‘One Guyana’ initiative will be enforced through cohesiveness among members of the Guyana Police Force”.
Mr Hicken was far from finished. On April 6th, in a meeting with the 12 divisional commanders, he told them to “put your houses in order” by Monday (today) so as to effectively serve the nation. It is unclear what precisely these disorders are and how they could be rectified by this morning.
“Commanders, you are accountable for the officers and ranks under your command. I don’t want you to micro-manage but you must have a hands-on and effective approach to managing your respective divisions”, Mr Hicken stated at the meeting which was also attended by the police Executive Leadership Team.
He told his regional commanders to “wake up” and “get busy” and added “…gone are the days when you’re going to have one commander with all the knowledge and the other commanders searching for knowledge. We don’t want a half-balanced Police Force. We want all the commanders to be doing the same thing across the spectrum. And so commanders will communicate more often than ever and learn from each other’s experiences and best practices”.
On April 7th, at a meeting of Heads of Departments and Branch Commanders, Mr Hicken stated “As of today, you are part of the catalyst for change group. You are fortunate to be managing critical departments in the Guyana Police Force. Hence, you have to improve your output by paying more attention to the management of resources within your span of control”.
He would later add: “I have spoken to you one on one and I have given some of you an opportunity to correct your mistakes. I am a gentleman and a leader, not a boss. It is my belief that cohesiveness and professionalism will help us to sustain existing structures that foster development in a holistic way”.
Two things leap out from these meetings and the outreaches that have been launched by Mr Hicken. The first is that from his own admonitions there are clearly very serious, deep-seated problems in the police force not least of which is corruption which was not addressed by him in any specific way. It hardly needs to be said that it cannot be business as usual in a police force that has remained marooned in graft, internecine bickering and abuse of human rights.
Second, the injunctions and warnings issued by Mr Hicken bespeak a belief that he is a shoo-in for the substantive position of Commissioner of Police. Due respect, however, must be given to the constitutional provisions for the appointment of the Commissioner of Police and Mr Hicken and his supporters in and out of government must take full cognisance of this.
Article 211 (1) of the Constitution states, “the Commissioner of Police and every Deputy Commissioner of Police shall be appointed by the President acting after meaningful consultation with the Leader of the Opposition and Chairperson of the Police Service Commission after the Chairperson has consulted with other members of the Commission.”
Were the government to convene Parliament more often, a new Police Service Commission might have already been in place. Were the opposition APNU+AFC more responsible in their internal affairs, a Leader of the Opposition would have already been in place. As an aside, Justice Saunders, the President of the Caribbean Court of Justice was unable to pay a courtesy call last week on the Leader of the Opposition as the office is vacant.
A Leader of the Opposition could be in place by Wednesday at which point the government should immediately begin consultations on a new substantive Commissioner of Police without having to be tempted again to invoke the doctrine of necessity.
One would hope that when the Leader of the Opposition is appointed the holder will begin tackling the requirements of the post with energy, considered work and constructiveness. The appointment of the new Commissioner of Police should be among the first major tasks.
For decades, police commissioners have been appointed and kept in office on the grounds of their malleability to the wishes of the political directorate. A coterie of senior policemen have also been preferred in this manner and they jostle with each other in tandem with the political tide. Political considerations must not drive the appointment of the new Top Cop. For years, given the extrajudicial killings that have occurred, police brutality, the breakdown of law and order following the 2002 prison-break and irremediable levels of corruption in the force, this newspaper has called for the appointment of a Police Commissioner from outside of Guyana to help foster a new culture of accountability. That call remains. One expects that the President and the Leader of the Opposition will examine the backgrounds and records of all the potential candidates for appointment to the post before arriving at a conclusion.
As he has been out-front in the hustings and built up an advantage of sorts the conduct of Mr Hicken in a number of major police operations would have to be examined not least of which would be the killing of three protestors on July 18, 2012 during the electricity tariff unrest in Linden.
