When he took the oath of office yesterday, Commissioner of Police Winston Felix ushered in a new era in the life of the over sixteen decades -old Guyana Police Force.
In the three years or so that he has to lead the force Felix has the opportunity to restore the professionalism of the Force and regain the confidence of the public which it is required to serve and protect.
The new commissioner has in the thirty years or so that he has been a serving member of the Force been well prepared. He has served all over the country as well as served in the top management positions of the Force. As head of the Police operations department for six years he must have been painfully aware of its intelligence failures and the goodwill that was frittered away by the unprofessional approach of some sections of the Force.
It will not be an easy task, as he will be jeopardizing forms of income that the rogue elements of the force have become accustomed to and the privileges which their paymasters outside the Force enjoy.
In tandem with dealing with the rogue elements, Felix must seek to reassure the vast majo-rity in the Force who are determined to uphold the law that their behaviour is not aberrant and it is the type of conduct that will be encouraged and promoted.
He must also usher in new approaches that would allow the police to successfully tackle the evolving forms of criminal activity such as kidnapping and the other activities that come in the wake of the growing drug trade. He will also have to ensure that reports of domestic violence are no longer considered a nuisance but a serious social problem which the Police have a crucial role in arresting and addressing.
He now has to address that problem and President Bharrat Jagdeo has publicly indicated that the government will back him. He must take the President at his word and make dealing with that problem a priority.
There is too the question of the issuance of firearm licences. The law gives the Commission-er of Police responsibility for this task. Recent revelations about the issue of a firearm licence to Axel Williams, who was involved in the shooting death of Rodwell Ogle because of a disagreement over $20 would suggest that the relevant legislative provisions governing the issue of firearms licences were not being closely observed. In statements to the reporters on Monday at Felix's swearing-in ceremony, Minister of Home Affairs Ronald Gajraj suggested that some standing order of the Force justified the issue of the firearm licence to Williams. Whatever occurred in the shading of the regulations took place in the past, Felix must now insist that on his watch there must be due regularity.
If the reports are true about the interference of the Home Affairs Minister in the running of the Force, he will have to ensure that the relations between the Minister and himself are constitutionally correct. His pre-eminent concern in that relationship should be the independence of the force and its freedom to discharge its constitutional responsibility without fear or favour.
Which brings into focus the role the Police will have to play in the investigation of the allegations that have been made about the involvement of the Minister in the activities of a phantom gang.
Felix has said that he has to be given an investigation to conduct. This may be a legalistic and correct approach but because of the importance of the issue, the Commis-sioner may need to re-consider this position. The allegations will not go away and the longer they are not addressed the longer they will fester and pose unnecessary problems for the police.
Much is expected of Felix, particularly from a public which feels betrayed and let down by the Force. But at the same time as it would want him to return the Force to its former glory, the Commissioner must be aware that the public has become accustomed to not observing the law. Lawless behaviour is not confined to armed robbers and kick down the door bandits but extends to every member of the public who does not stop at a major road, or who impedes the free flow of traffic by double parking to carry on a conversation with an acquaintance, or who creates a noise nuisance and disturbs his neighbours.
He will have to address these ills in a professional manner and hope that good sense prevails among the populace as they become re-acquainted with observing the law and behaving lawfully.
While he has its goodwill, the Commissioner must be aware that the public will be taking him at his word, holding him accountable according to the oath he took to uphold the constitution. He will also need our prayers and God's blessing for his success.