‘Greater accountability’- Police conduct to be improved with modernisation of standing orders

Police Officers, be it junior or senior ranks, are expected to be held more accountable to the public once the Guyana Police Force (GPC) standing orders are reviewed and modernised, Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC said on Wednesday.

Nandlall, who is also Guyana’s Minister of Legal Affairs, explained that Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George, SC has “regularly admonished” lawyers appearing on behalf of Police ranks in civil proceedings because of their conduct.

So the government is keen on working with the Force to update those standing orders to be more reflective of the posture ranks need to adopt when interfacing with each other and members of the public.

“We are working with the Police and the University of Guyana to review the Police Standing Orders to inject into it greater accountability, greater responsibility and to bring it in sync with the new realities of policing and the new developments taking place in relation to the rights and freedoms of individuals,” Nandlall said.

This new and different regulatory framework, he said, is expected to improve policing in Guyana.

The day before, Minister of Home Affairs Robesonn Benn told the News Room that a huge focus of his ministry is to find ways of building trust in local law enforcement so that the public feels better protected. That focus comes as the government is investing heavily in training and purchasing assets needed to boost crime-fighting.