Opposition Leader, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, during Thursday’s meeting with President David Granger, sought to give the Head of State tips from the People’s Progressive Party’s books on what approaches the administration could take as it relates to reforming of the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
“The President pointed out that he is in the process of selecting someone to be the Commissioner Police and that he would consult [with us] at a subsequent time and so I pointed out the way I would approach that- the selection of the Commissioner of Police, when we selected [Winston] Felix, the open transparent ways, getting four of the top officers, sending them off for training, ranking them and then Felix came out number one and he was selected in the ranking,” Jagdeo said.
According to the Former President, he also shared with President Granger the way in which the former Administration dealt with “weak middle level management” within the Force.
“… so I got the Chief of Staff and the Commissioner of Police together and I got a commitment for them to train 50 cadet officers to go into the Police Force to strengthen middle level management and with the right guidance and training those people will emerge to the leadership of the Police Force eventually…We managed to train 49 of the 50 and they were sent into the Police Force,” he said.
In addition, Jagdeo disclosed that Granger mentioned some of the APNU-AFC’s proposed changes within the GPF.
Jagdeo also said that the two sides delved into talks about the escalation of crime in the country and what the Government is doing to curb the situation.
Just days ago, the GPF disclosed that they have recorded an 8 percent increase in Robberies where no instruments were used at the end of June 2018 compared to the same period last year.
Moreover, there has also been a 2 per cent increase in Robbery under arms for the same duration.
However, significant members of society and civilians are maintaining that while these may be the statistics provided by the Force, the day to day observances have proven to be different. As such, they are maintaining that since the Coalition Administration took power in 2015, crime has escalated. (Ramona Luthi)
