Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud this morning delivered his last address to the annual Police Officers’ Conference, reflecting on his years of service to the Guyana Police Force.
Persaud in his remarks outlined that despite challenges, the Force was resilient in its crime fighting strategy.
He noted the Force’s reported declining trend in the crime statistics are often questioned but this is because of various issues, including the fact that not all crimes are reported.
“People measure the utility that will be gained from justice against the time that they will have to spend in order to achieve that justice and which one weighs out will determine, whether they will report or not. Public trust is a major issue; if people don’t believe that their matter will be treated with professionally and there would be a justified outcome, then they will not be motivated to report it,” said Persaud.
According to the outgoing Top Cop, building public trust is something high on the Force’s agenda.
He added too that among some of the issues up for discussions is the review of police prosecutions.
“We have found over the years, a number of negative issues associated with those operations. So it is anticipated that there will be intense discussions regarding the development of command systems for commanders in order to achieve the control function of management. Controlling the rates of unprofessional behaviour, reducing response time, reducing investigation and prosecution backlog, will be major objectives,” the Top Cop stated.
The 2018 police officers’ conference is being held for three days, under the theme: “Forging ahead with effective policing through strategic human resources and operational management, partnership and professionalism.”
The outgoing Commissioner is set to retire in April after 30 plus years of service in the Force. Persaud resumed duties mid-January after being sent on special leave back in November when he returned from four months annual leave.
There were many uncertainties surrounding his return after he was accused of interfering in the police’s investigation into the alleged plot to assassinate President Granger.
The Commission of Inquiry established to probe the police’s handling of the investigation had suggested that disciplinary actions be taken against Persaud and that he be made to resign.
