Deputy Police Commissioner, Maxine Graham was on Monday sent on pre-retirement leave.
As such, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken will head operations of the Guyana Police Force.
Graham will attain retirement status in December 2020 but has over 170 days leave.
She reportedly joined the force on March 9, 1987.
Hicken, who will take over from Graham, is known for his dynamic style of management and is expected to provide the necessary support to acting Police Commissioner Nigel Hoppie.
Hicken was seconded to the Department of Citizenship in 2019 by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC).
The senior police officer was quite popular during his reign as Commander of A and B Divisions and as such had tremendous public support.
A few days ago, former Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan had stated that he was unaware of the reason for Commissioner of Police Leslie James and Deputy Commissioner of Police Maxine Graham still being on the job, claiming that they should have been on pre-retirement leave.
The accumulated days for the two senior ranks reportedly amounted to over 500 days.
James was appointed Commissioner of Police back in August 2018 along with four Deputy Commissioners of Police in the persons of Lyndon Alves, Maxine Graham, Nigel Hoppie, and Paul Williams. Alves was sent off the job in the public’s interest in 2019.
However, James has subsequently proceeded on pre-retirement leave and as such, Deputy Commissioner Nigel Hoppie has taken charge of the force with immediate effect.
