Over the past few months, the Guyana Police Force has become less and less reliable in releasing information about fatal accidents, murders and other serious crimes. Some incidents are reported promptly. Others are not reported at all. In some cases, journalists must ask repeatedly for basic facts before receiving a response. Many of their questions are simply ignored.
This is occurring although the press has access to a Joint Services WhatsApp group created to share official information. The group includes Minister of Home Affairs Oneidge Walrond, Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken, divisional commanders and other senior officers. There should therefore be no difficulty in determining who is responsible for providing information. Nevertheless, reporters are often left asking the same questions for hours or days.
The problem is not merely an inconvenience for the press. The police are the main official source of information on murders, fatal accidents, robberies and other serious incidents. When they remain silent, rumours fill the gap. Families may also be forced to depend on social media for information about investigations involving their relatives.
There have been several troubling examples.
On June 28, Collis Bristol and Akeem Burgess, both of Nabaclis, were struck and killed while travelling on a motorcycle along the Railway Embankment near Clonbrook and Anns Grove. The driver fled. The following night, their families were still trying to obtain information and had offered a $200,000 reward for help in identifying the driver. Up to then, the police had issued no official statement on the double fatal accident. In the end one of their own was charged over the men’s death.
Earlier that month, a serious collision involving a Route 42 minibus occurred near the Guyana National Stadium at Providence. A pedestrian was reportedly killed and several persons were injured. Videos of the collision circulated widely, but the police had not issued any information by the time the incident was reported in the press.
There have also been periods of silence concerning important developments in murder investigations. During the renewed investigation into the 2021 murder of Ricardo Fagundes, the police did not initially disclose that several persons had been detained, questioned and later released on substantial station bail. Some of that information emerged through reporters’ own sources. The police eventually issued a brief statement after a search at Friendship, but did not identify the owner or occupant of the property searched. Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed, who is connected to the arrested persons, revealed it was his property that was searched.
This lack of openness is not new. In August last year, the police took almost two weeks to issue a release on a collision involving a vehicle assigned to the Russian Embassy. Ava Braithwaite was seriously injured in the August 5 accident and died on August 16. The police finally issued a release on August 18, after questions had already arisen over their silence.
It is difficult to understand the police’s approach. The Force can quickly publish lengthy releases about a small quantity of marijuana, the recovery of a gun or ammunition, or someone being placed before the courts. These matters should be reported, but they cannot be more important than a killing or an accident in which one or more persons have died.
Meanwhile, the Force’s Facebook page is regularly updated with material about community outreaches, training courses, athletics, pageants and internal celebrations. In recent weeks, it has invited the public to support police athletes and contestants, promoted the Police Youth Intelligence Pageant, posted scenes from pageants and publicised community activities. The page has also been used over time for birthday greetings to ranks and senior officers.
There is nothing wrong with the Force highlighting its social work or the achievements of its members. Police officers are part of the community and positive work deserves recognition. But a police information service cannot find time to promote pageants, birthday celebrations and sporting activities while failing to tell the country promptly that people have been killed.
The uneven flow of information naturally raises suspicion. It may lead members of the public to wonder whether some incidents are being withheld to avoid attention being drawn to the number of fatal accidents and serious crimes. There is not enough evidence to conclude that this is an organised attempt to conceal crime figures. However, the Force’s conduct creates room for that belief. The police themselves can end such speculation by reporting every serious incident promptly and consistently.
In the past, various media houses have raised concerns about police information practices. The Force itself said in 2009 that media-relations guidelines had been established since 2004 after consultations with the Guyana Press Association and with assistance from a British media adviser. Those arrangements were intended to ensure a proper and dependable relationship between the police and the press.
There may be cases in which the police cannot immediately disclose every detail. The identity of a victim may have to be withheld until relatives are informed. Some evidence may have to remain confidential to protect an investigation. Those are reasonable limits. They do not justify silence about the occurrence of an accident or crime, the number of people killed or injured, the location, the vehicles involved, whether anyone is in custody and the general state of the investigation.
The police should establish a clear rule requiring every division to report murders, suspected murders, fatal accidents and other grave incidents to the central communications office immediately. Some commanders have indicated that such a rule exists as when contacted they would inform reporters that information was sent to the force’s public relations division.
Following the receipt of such information, a preliminary release should be issued as soon as the basic facts are verified, followed by updates when new information becomes available. The Force should also keep and publish current statistics on murders, fatal accidents, road deaths, robberies and firearm offences.
Minister Walrond and Commissioner Hicken must address the problem. Their presence in a WhatsApp group where reporters’ questions are repeatedly ignored makes the failure harder to defend. They cannot be unaware of the complaints.
The police do not release information as a favour to journalists. They do so because they are a public institution and the people have a right to know what is happening in their communities. Prompt, accurate and complete information is part of accountable policing. Silence, delay and selective disclosure weaken confidence in the Force and invite the very rumours and suspicions that responsible police communication should prevent.
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