| – Promotions pushed back to February BY DALE ANDREWSThe wait will continue indefinitely for the hard-working police ranks, who are desperate for promotions.Indications point to no promotions being announced at the beginning of the year, as is customary.The reason being touted is the absence of the Police Service Commission.Dr Roger LuncheonWhile the Police Service Commission (PSC) is responsible for the promotion and other matters related directly to the senior ranks of the force,Dominic Moore Canadiens Jersey, the junior promotions will suffer, since there will hardly be room for their upward mobility if the vacancies are not created at the top of the Force’s administration.Without the Police Service Commission there can be no promotions from Inspectors up to Assistant Commissioners of Police. This will come as a major disappointment to several ranks, both senior and junior,Dani Alves Jersey, many of whom have been stagnated in one position for several years.“The junior Promotion Board has already met and finalized the promotions,Wayne Gallman Youth Jersey, but the commissioner is not too keen on making that announcement in the absence of the senior ranks’ promotions,Jay Chapman Toronto Shirts,” a senior police source told Kaieteur News.This newspaper has been making repeated enquiries about the establishment of the PSC, but the responses have been less than satisfactory from senior government officials who are directly or indirectly responsible.Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon had indicated at one of his Press Conferences that the administration was looking at the establishment of several Commissions, the PSC being one of them, when the question was posed to him.A month ago, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee had promised a press conference to deal with the establishment of the PSC and other matters – of course that engagement never came off, although he regularly hosts his Party’s media conference.“These people are playing with our careers,” one Police Officer lamented.Officers of the Guyana Police Force are worried that the situation that occurred in 1999 when there was no Police Service Commission (PSC), could visit them again.Clement RoheeThe Police Officers are hoping that that situation, which resulted in no police promotions for three years, would not reoccur, especially since there appears to be no urgency on the part of the administration to deal with the issue.“For a year now there has been no movement, and it is okay to assume that no work has been done since the Chairman died,” a senior officer of the Guyana Police Force said.The last Commission was chaired by Dennis Morgan who subsequently died in November 2012 while serving in that capacity.The Police Service Commission, a five-man body, was rendered inactive following his death.Kaieteur News understands that in light of the imminent delay in the establishment of the PSC, the administration of the Guyana Police Force is hoping to announce its promotions by next February to coincide with the country’s 44th Republic anniversary.“Unless something dramatic occurs, like the fast tracking of the PSC, there will be no promotions until maybe February,” the senior police officer stated.Some ranks have been stagnant in one position for long periods, some as long as 20 years without promotion. It was explained that some ranks have pending disciplinary matters that are hampering their advancement. However, it was pointed out that constables will receive automatic promotion once they have served 15 years or more and have no pending disciplinary matters.One worrying factor is the apparent lack of objective criteria whereby ranks, particularly gazetted officers, are evaluated for advancement in the GPF.Anecdotal evidence suggests that among the reasons persons are not promoted, are to be found in two principal areas, namely (i) pending disciplinary matter(s); and(ii) adverse annual confidential report(s).Leroy BrumellHowever, it is not unknown that favoured officers have been beneficiaries of promotions, sometimes to the extent of superseding more worthy candidates. Some of these (un)worthy things have been given a free ride, never having experienced the travails of professional policing.The other side of that coin is that those officers, who find themselves in disfavour, are stagnated sometimes to the point of opting to resign in circumstances that can aptly be described as constructive dismissal, or to not rock the boat and go with the flow until retirement, so as not to jeopardise their retirement benefits.Two such cases come to mind, where until her retirement, the most senior of Assistant Superintendents was passed over for promotion for more than 10 years. The other instance is where the most senior of Superintendents has been consistently superseded by persons less experienced/qualified for a number of years. The ostensible reason is that there are pending disciplinary matters against both of these officers.The fact that these people’s right to a hearing has been violated, contrary to the principles of natural justice,http://www.theworldsoccersshop.com/Colombia-James-Rodriguez-Jersey.html, seems not to have made any impression on the force’s administration.“To regularly raise the spectre of disciplinary inquiries whenever the time approaches for the PSC to consider promotions recommendations, reeks of vindictiveness sheltering in an unstructured, opaque and disorganized process,” one male observer pointed out.He noted that many of those promoted to their level of incompetence are prone to exhibit the worst form of leadership behaviour, including oppressive and tyrannical conduct towards subordinates.But of even greater concern is the stagnation of more than 40 cadet officers.In 2008, then President, Bharrat Jagdeo, challenged the Guyana Police Force to appoint 50 Cadet Officers over three years in a move that was intended to strengthen the officer corps of the organization. However, five years later, Cadets,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, even from the first batch, are still waiting to be confirmed in the gazetted position of Assistant Superintendents.The reason being given for this apparent administrative hiccup is the lack of vacancies in the Assistant Superintendent bracket.Cadet Officers are ranks who have been earmarked to be gazetted officers of the Force. The rank is just above that of an Inspector. The Cadet Officers eventually become Assistant Superintendents upon successful completion of their Cadetship.Under what is being touted as the ‘Jagdeo Cadet Scheme’, the first batch of 15 police cadet officers graduated from the Basic Cadet Officer Training Programme in 2009. This group was followed by larger groups of Police Cadet Officers in the following years, up to the last batch of two in 2011.There were four batches in all that satisfied Jagdeo’s mandate for the Force. But according to a police administrative expert, there was no provision to accommodate the Cadet Officers into the gazetted police ranks.It was explained that the system could only accommodate a certain number of Assistant Superintendents and there is a preference for experienced Inspectors and Chief Inspectors to fill positions that become available from time to time.Jagdeo’s 2008 mandate to have 50 Police Cadet Officers appointed and trained, has placed the Force in the dilemma of also stagnating the elevation of some categories of ranks.“The Police, in their haste to satisfy Jagdeo’s mandate, fast-tracked the Cadetship Programme without making the necessary provisions. Now these Cadets are languishing in their Cadet position for years,Ryan McLaughlin Jersey,” the senior officer added.This newspaper was reliably informed that after two years as a Cadet Officer, once there is no blemish in their files, the officers are eligible for promotion to Assistant Superintendents.“We trained with people from the army and those guys have already been confirmed; some have even been promoted higher, while we are still Cadets,” one of the affected Cadet Officers stated.As a consequence of their stagnation, the Cadet Officers are being denied the benefits of their gazetted colleagues, including duty-free vehicles. |
