—identifies failure to answer public as major challenge
Minister of Home Affairs Oneidge Walrond has identified unanswered calls to police stations as a major challenge and says the government’s programme to digitise the Guyana Police Force must allow these failures to be tracked.
Speaking on the Starting Point podcast, Walrond said investment in security and reported reductions in serious crime had to be measured against the service citizens actually receive and whether they feel safer.
She said the digitisation programme would include recording calls to police stations and identifying those which go unanswered.
“We need to be able to track and record when people say they pick up the phone and they can’t get an answer, because that adds to insecurity,” she said.
Walrond did not give a completion date for the call-monitoring arrangements or outline what action would follow when calls are not answered.
The minister said her visits to police stations were intended to examine the public’s experience of policing, including the quality of service and the force’s responsiveness.
While citing a reported 16% reduction in serious crime in the first half of this year, she acknowledged that crime figures alone could not settle the question of whether citizens feel secure.
“I don’t believe a government can ever declare a win with crime, because one victim to a crime is too much,” she said.
Problems with unanswered police calls have been documented for years. Stabroek News reported in November 2017 that the 911 emergency system had been recommissioned following prolonged difficulties, including complaints that calls went unanswered. The revamped system included customised reporting, call transfers and automatic caller identification, and more than 40 ranks had been trained to operate it. At that launch, then acting Commissioner David Ramnarine also identified a gap between improvements in police infrastructure and the attitude and behaviour of ranks towards their duties and the public.
Walrond also identified integrity and clearer standards for promotion as priorities for reforming the force.
She said advancement should depend on an officer’s service and disciplinary record, rather than simply years on the job or personal connections.
“I believe that if there is any infraction from any police officer, it should be written up and put in their file,” she said.
She argued that clear standards would improve morale by allowing ranks to understand what was required for advancement and how misconduct could affect their careers.
“There has to be an understanding that bad behaviour is not rewarded, that misconduct is not rewarded,” she said.
Asked whether inadequate pay explained police bribery, Walrond rejected the suggestion. She pointed to improvements in welfare, access to loans, housing opportunities and accommodation, arguing that ranks had legitimate avenues to improve their financial circumstances.
On investigations, Walrond acknowledged that weaknesses in handling evidence had undermined cases.
She said training was being directed towards taking witness statements, processing and preserving evidence, and presenting cases in court. According to the minister, 500 police officers had been trained in evidence processing.
She also said the government was strengthening the forensic laboratory’s capacity to conduct testing locally, including ballistics and toxicology work, to reduce reliance on sending samples overseas.
Walrond said the objective was to strengthen the entire process from investigation through prosecution, noting that identifying a suspect was insufficient if the evidence could not support a conviction.
While Walrond gave this interview to what is seen as a government-aligned podcast she has not entertained questions from the private media.
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