Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan is urging Guyanese to be fearless and report Guyana Police Force (GPF) ranks who go “rogue”. He has assured that the names of complainants will be treated with strict confidence.
Ramjattan made these comments during a recent interview with Voice of Guyana (VOG)’s radio programme earlier this week.
The minister said that because of citizens’ reports, the force was able to get rid of ranks who were found to be overstepping their authority.
Ramjattan said, “about 48 of them have been so far terminated in the public’s interest, as a result of information we gather from members of the public.”
One way he said that citizens can make reports, is to “capture” police officers on electronic devices and provide these as evidence to the authorities. The Minister added that more systems will be put in place where photographs and videos can be provided to the authorities via Whatsapp and other social media platforms.
“When you capture something like the policeman behaving like a rogue…They will be dealt with and all of that, [and] the information as to who might have spoken out against the policeman, will not be known by that policeman…It is kept very confidential,” Ramjattan said.
The minister was keen to call on the public to be engaged in the process as much as possible. “I have to tell the public that if they remain silent, this thing will continue. Silence is violence, and you got to speak out. Silence is violence in relation to a whole [range] of things: domestic violence; what happens on our roads; and crime. If we remain silent, it will just continue. We have to speak out, and we have to be brave,” he emphasised.
