Senior police promotions could be announced Tuesday evening

Senior Officers pose with their Commander In Chief and subject minister at this year’s Officer Conference on the lawns of State House 

The Guyana Police Force could soon be ‘blessed’ with some newly named Assistant, Senior Superintendents and Superintendents of Police and this could be done as early as Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning based on our inside source.

BIG Smith News Watch has been informed that while the Police Commissioner and his management team already submitted the list of officers they would like to see promoted, the Police Service Commission Chairman and his team are deliberating on the list.

This publication has been informed that at least four Senior Superintendents of Police (names provided) have been tipped to be promoted to Assistant Commissioners of Police, among them an officer who has been superseded for years.

The makeup of the list usually sees the force administration putting up the names of officers who they feel should be elevated to another rank. However when the list gets to the Police Service Commission, several things happen, the files of the officers recommended for promotion by the force administration are pulled for perusal. Based on those files a decision would be made at the level of the Police Service Commission, if indeed that specific rank should be promoted or not. There are also instances where persons who are not recommended by the force for promotion are placed onto the list at the discretion of the PSC.

The Guyana Police Force last year named several senior officers as being ineligible for promotion citing lack of proper supervisory experience among other reasons, this is even as some of those very officers were commanding division while others were holding key positions.

Persons saw the list submitted to the service commission last year against the positions which the officers were holding at the time, as an incitement on the force administration which on one hand accused the officers as being unworthy for promotion but on the other hand; had the very officers heading divisions and operating in key positions of the force, some of whom are still performing those functions todate.

There will be no recommendations to the President by the Police Service Commission for the promotion of any Deputy Commissioner of Police since the establishment for DCs’, has the full complement, namely; Nigel Hoppie, Maxine Graham, Paul Williams and Linden Alves who is on administrative leave.

Whenever promotions of senior officers are to be announced or is announced, the administration of the force is always accused by those not promoted of handpicking those for promotion who they favour leaving others out in the cold.

The force would in turn shy away from any blame stating that promotions of senior officers lies with the Police Service Commission.

There is also the usual occurrence with the Guyana Police Force where some officers, high and low, would in the lead up to promotions, begin writing to each other on matters which would warrant internal investigations and or discipline. Those letters would usually be placed into the files of officers and does have bearings the final outcome of promotional considerations as officers not promoted once they have pending matter.

This year’s promotions will be defining given that the Police Force is heading into what is being termed the ‘mother of all elections’ and which would require strong leadership at the divisional levels coupled with support from the force headquarters. Parliament will be dissolved today, Monday December 30, 2019 and Nomination Day is set for Thursday January 10, 2020 which marks the commencement of intense election campaigning by political parties.