Rohee recommends ‘change of guard’ at Number 51 police station

as Upper Corentyne residents protest string of robberies in their community

AS RESIDENTS of Numbers 48 and 49 villages, Corentyne (Region 6) blocked the Corentyne Highway on Sunday in protest at the alleged involvement of police ranks in a spate of robberies in the area, Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee yesterday declared that “people will react in this way so long as they lose, and continue to lose, public confidence in the police.
“It’s a battle that they (the Guyana Police Force) have to win back. That’s a police battle,” he declared.
This latest fiasco has further contributed to the lack of public confidence in the Guyana Police Force (GPF); and yesterday, at a press briefing held at Freedom House on Robb Street, Georgetown, Home Affairs Minister, Rohee disclosed that on Sunday night he had recommended to Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell that all ranks at the Number 51 Village Police Station be transferred.
He said, “I spoke to the (Police) Commissioner, drawing to him my concerns on the matter; and I made one recommendation to him, and that recommendation was that I wanted ‘a total change of guard’ at the Number 51 Police Station.”
The Home Affairs Minister added that he has also contacted the Berbice Divisional Commander, Assistant Commissioner, Brian Joseph, about the allegations being made by residents, and the consequent concerns.
Rohee noted that a week before the action taken by those Corentyne residents in reaction to the most recent robbery on Sunday night, information came into his possession that caused him concern.