Police Commanders/ other officers to be polygraph- Security Minister
A number of Divisional Commanders and branch heads from the Guyana Police Force are to be polygraphed by a team of specialists presently being engaged by local authorities. This was confirmed by Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan during a telephone interview with BIG Smith Crime Watch on Monday morning.
“It is part and parcel of the vetting process and to enhance the integrity of the organisation so that we prevent those kinds of things like what happened at SOCU- Special Organised Crime Unit” Ramjattan explained.
According to Ramjattan, the exercise is a very expensive one and government is looking to have a core group of people locally who can provide the service, of course with the requisite training as against rushing to contract the service outside of Guyana as is presently being done.
BIG Smith Crime Watch was told that notwithstanding the cost, attached, the exercise will be conducted even as steps are being made to produce a core of locally trained handlers of the system, Ramjattan explained.
The tests will be done randomly and those to be tested will be identified by the administration of the force, the Commissioner of Police and his deputies will not be subjected to the polygraph testing, they however will be responsible for identifying the officers from the rank of Assistant Commissioner and below, who would should be subjected for the test.
A lot of emphasis would be placed on those within the investigative arm of the force, Ramjattan told BIG Smith Crime Watch.
“That is something we will have to work out with the police administration because they are in a better position and better equipped to identify the individuals and areas which should be focused on also” it was noted by the minister.
On the issue of claims of witch-hinting in the process, Ramjattan said that he does not foresee any of that and went on to asset that the practice is one that is done all across the world and which focuses especially on law enforcement officers.
“It must be done, it’s an expensive exercise but I want to see it implemented, look these things are best practices and they are done in almost every other police force around the world, those who do not want to do it will be in violation of the policy and those violations will have consequences” the Security Minister explained.
The testing will be first done with the Guyana Police Force but any agency which provides ancillary services to the police force can also have it done if they so desire, Ramjattan noted as he made reference to the Guyana Revenue Authority.
In 2008 a number of agents from the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit were fired after they failed polygraph tests which were conducted at the agency. A number of other agencies were in that same year, made to have certain category of workers undergo the test while others protested to the move.
