PEOPLE’S National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) yesterday called for the immediate disbandment of the Target Special Squad (TSS) in the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and supported the establishment of a specially trained and equipped SWAT team, first mooted by President Bharrat Jagdeo at the height of the now subsiding crime wave.
That was one of the main recommendations the opposition political party made at a hearing of the Disciplined Forces Commission (DFC).
PNC/R Executive member, Mr Basil Williams, who led its delegation, charged that the TSS has made Guyana into a killing field, taking no prisoners and with no rules of engagement.
He said the unit should be “completely erased” and its members ought not to be in any position where they can exercise Police powers.
Williams, himself a lawyer, was cross-examined by members of the DFC as well as Senior Counsel Bernard DeSantos and other-attorney-at- law Mr Joseph Harmon, for the Police.
The PNC/R Parliamentarian acknowledged that there is crime and dangerous criminals in the country and that units, similar to TSS exist in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States (U.S.).
Williams stressed the need for them to be trained, with their overriding motive being to take prisoners and said, ultimately, good things “will kick in” and innocent unarmed persons will not be shot at or killed.
He alluded to instances, internationally, in which Police surround criminals for days while locked in negotiations and said such a strategy is missing here.
Williams said killings in the face of an uplifted gun or cutlass can be understood but not with cops going out and people dying within three minutes.
He also criticised Police use of weapons that spray bullets and are not designed to maim or injure suspects.
Williams said a SWAT team will not only be well trained but appropriately equipped and always have the advantage in dealing with criminals.
Commenting on the alleged involvement of some members of the Force in illegal activities, he said his party accepts the fact of certain “rouge elements”, as cited in reports from the Court case of jailed ex-American diplomat Thomas Carroll who was implicated in a visa scandal.
Williams proposed the formulation of rules of engagement for the recommended special squad and better remuneration, generally, for GPF members.
Discussing the Coroner’s Act, the PNC/R Member of Parliament (MP) expressed concern at what he described as its inadequacy and suggested several amendments to allow for:
* relatives or agents of a deceased person to be entitled to immediate access to the body upon the fact of death;
* the relatives or agents of a deceased person entitlement to a pathologist or medical practitioner of their choice attending and witnessing the post mortem on the body;
* the relatives or agents of a deceased person, in special cases, to be entitled to make an ex parte application to a Court for a pathologist of their choice to perform the autopsy on the body;
* a Coroner’s Court to be established in each County of Guyana to expedite inquiries into deaths;
* the relatives and agents of deceased persons to get a certified copy of the post mortem report within 48 hours of the examination and
* the holding of a coroner’s inquest into any killing which occurred in the last ten years.