Service Commission demotes officer to constable; Ex-SWAT, narcotics heads also demoted

Former Narcotics Head Wayne DeHearte (Demoted from Superintendent to Deputy Superintendent

Former head of the Special Weapons and Tactics Unit Deputy Superintendent Motie Dookie, Former Head of the Police Narcotics Branch Superintendent Wayne DeHearte and Ex-Cadet Officer France Paul have all been demoted by the Police Service Commission.

Dookie was demoted to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police, DeHearte demoted to the rank of Deputy Superintendent and Paul has been reduced to the rank of a constable.

Former head of SWAT Unit Motie Dookie (Demoted from Deputy Superintendent to Assistant Superintendent)

The demotions came as a consequence of investigations into a number of breaches in the SOP of the force at which they were individually at the center.

The former SWAT Boss was busted with more than two dozen cases of smuggled whiskey on the Corentyne Coast in 2017. At the time of the bust, he was not the only person in the vehicle but the force at the time said that Dookie was suppose to be in Georgetown performing duties. The driver of the minibus took the wrap for the smuggled items.

Dookie was sent off the job with pay but was recalled by Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan. When Ramjattan left the country on travel duties, Minister of Citizenship and former Commissioner of Police Winston Felix performed the duties of Minister of Public Security, during that period, Dookie was again sent of the job and a letter was issued to him stating that he was being sent off the job ‘in the public’s interest’ 

In the case of DeHearte, he was removed as head of the Police Narcotics Branch after a cocaine evidence which was to be presented in court for an ongoing matter disappeared. It was reported that the cocaine/evidence was improperly stored and the SOPs which speaks to the storage of evidence was determined to be breached.

He was then sent to Berbice where he served as a Sub Divisional Officer on the Corentyne Coast and later functioned as the Deputy Commander before being sent to another sub division in the same police ‘B’ Division which spans Berbice.

France Paul was demoted the rank of constable for his decision to play Russian Roulette with a 15 year old boy, Alex Griffith before shooting him in the mouth back in 2014.

France Paul (Demoted from Cadet Officer to Constable)

The incident stemmed from a misunderstanding that the teen had with the sister of the policeman. The young lady then called Paul who was stationed in ‘C’ Division at the time. He came to the area where the misunderstanding was, placed his gun in the teen’s mouth and played his game of Russian Roulette. Paul was charged and placed before the court but settled the matter with the young man.

In 2018, the same France Paul was again the subject of media reports and a police investigation after he pulled an unlicensed gun on his wife during an argument at their Alexander Village home. He was charged and placed before the courts for that matter also.

The Guyana Police Force has over the years been sending a number of files to the Police Service Commission regarding the conduct of senior and junior officers. The matters range from dereliction of duties, abuse of power, drunk driving and insubordination among others.