It is difficult to find a sustained period of PPP/C governance where the citizens of this country were assured of professional policing. From 1992 onwards, the PPP/C embarked upon a campaign to capture the police force and to mould it to do its bidding.
This is why the brutal 1993 murder of Monica Reece remained unsolved. This is why the country was brought to the brink by the prison escapees in 2002 and later worsened by the Roger Khan-led intervention on behalf of the state during which period a sitting minister was assassinated. It also explains the 2009 torture of a 15-year-old boy within the Leonora Police Station and a whole series of other abominations.
Today the force is headed by a graduate of the Clement Rohee school of advancement who without any reservation is the most undeserving Commissioner of Police the country has ever been unfortunate to have serve it.
The detritus of the PPP/C’s command of the police force is evident for all to see. The most brutal of the recent acts has to be what will be considered the murder of Gavin Kennard Douglas in the Vreed-en-Hoop police station of all places. It appeared that a full coverup was under way until a witness came forward and put an end to it.
Thus far, based on the available post-mortem information Mr Douglas died on October 31st from a brain haemorrhage caused by blunt trauma to the head. Two taser studs were also removed from his body and lodged as exhibits. The examination also recorded blunt trauma to his abdomen. Thus far no charge has been brought against anyone and the public awaits the release by the police of all of the footage that must be available from within and around the police station to establish what transpired.
Then there is the scandal surrounding the Deputy Commissioner of Police and the Head of the Special Organized Crime Unit, Fazil Karimbaksh. He was publicly accused at the starting of October of rape and threatening behaviour with a gun. The Home Affairs Minister Oneidge Walrond belatedly addressed the matter during which she besmirched her portfolio by mentioning the word “confrontation”. The Commissioner of Police then attempted to send Mr Karimbaksh on leave only to hastily withdraw his missive.
That’s where the matter now lies. An entire month has elapsed without a sign of any serious intent to take decisive action. Another player in this tragicomedy is the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). The DPP’s Chambers can swiftly arrive at a conclusion on certain matters, particularly those of interest to the government. On others, like the case of Mr Karimbaksh, it tends to suffer brain freeze or some other shortcoming or sufferance under the spell of the government. Perhaps the DPP’s Chambers and the police force can explain to the public what has become of Mr Karimbaksh’s case.
At the height of the unrest over the tragic death of Adriana Younge it was made known that the police had bungled interpretation of footage from its networked security cameras. This failure was to be addressed and improvements made to the system. It has since transpired that two members of the police force have been charged with corruptly releasing surveillance footage of the October 12 incident in Kitty during which shots were fired at the Leader of the Opposition. How is it that the supposed Safe City surveillance system can be so easily corrupted? Can citizens have any confidence that surveillance footage will be professionally handled and not used by the PPP/C government for political purposes? It is also the case that the footage should have been released to the public to clarify exactly what happened when another senior policeman, the head of the Police Special Branch, Prem Narine let loose rounds wantonly in the direction of a vehicle conveying the Opposition Leader. Mr Narine’s conduct is also worthy of investigation but nothing has been heard about this.
The police force has also been recently accused of heavy-handed tactics against members of the public protesting over the MV Barima tragedy and other matters.
On top of all of this, the institutional decay which is widely entertained by the PPP/C government is in play. There is no functioning Police Service Commission to address serious disciplinary matters in the police force. There is no Police Complaints Authority to address serious issues such as deaths at the hands of members of the police force. There is no confidence that the Office of Professional Responsibility will rigorously investigate complaints against members of the police force.
Parliament has not met since the end of the recess weeks ago to enable discussions on matters of public importance and to advance legislation on security and other matters.
Concerns have also arisen about whether the police force is targeting the Leader of the Opposition at the behest of the government. This is the dungeon in which the force finds itself in today with the attendant risks to law and order.
Discussion