Gya: Cleaning the Augean stables

New Commander of 'A' Divi-sion, Assistant Commissioner Paul Slowe says he is no proverbial ostrich burying his head in the sand. He readily admits there is evidence of police brutality and corruption in the force and that those ranks should be identified and dealt with.

However, this cannot be done without the help of the public who would need to provide the information about any wrongdoing.

Slowe was recently transferred from 'B' Division, Berbice and is seen as a no-nonsense officer even though controversy has surrounded him of late. Late last year he moved to the High Court and got an injunction against former acting Commissioner of Police, Floyd McDonald, preventing him from him being transferred from Berbice following his refusal to apologise to Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj.
...
Slowe, who has a degree and a diploma from the University of Guyana and countless certificates from overseas training, is now responsible for all aspects of the division including, crime, traffic and general duties.

"When you talk about crime I intend to ensure that we are proactive, have our patrols and... try to gather intelligence so that we can embark on more intelligence-led activities, not just running here and there wildly..."
...
He recalls that Commissioner of Police Winston Felix had stated at the recently concluded officers' conference that the force would be working on re-establishing the beat system. Slowe says the system has been resuscitated and they intend to ensure that it is maintained since it is a proactive measure with a presence on the road.
...
As to what can be done to change the public's perception of the force, he suggests that there is need to identify those persons who tend to be unprofessional and "weed them out."

"...It is one of the things that I am targeting to ensure that those persons are identified; those persons who treat people in any rude way so they could be dealt with. We have a mechanism in the force to deal with those persons..."

He intends to have ranks trained on how they should deal with the public and this has already commenced.

"If after that [the training] they continue, we have to take drastic measures to weed them out of the system." It is all part of a "new dispensation" as he puts it.