Last Updated on Thursday, 31 July 2025, 16:37 by Writer
President Irfaan Ali on Wednesday said he instructed the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to periodically evaluate the conditions of police stations, warning that the outcome could impact on the promotion of members of that law enforcement agency.
“I believe there must be collective responsibility in the system and I’ve asked the Commissioner of Police and his deputies to come up with quarterly evaluation forms for every station because you must take collective responsibility from the commander right down to the constable,” he said in an address to members of that law enforcement agency.
Dr Ali said the evaluation would assess how police force members are caring for the assets including motorcycles and other vehicles. “The entire station will be marked down if, in the quarterly evaluation, we don’t see these things are being kept properly and will affect promotion so each one of you will have to hold each other accountable,” he said.
Promising to continue improving the Police Force’s infrastructure, including police stations, and the conditions of work, the President said systems would be put in place to stop police from begging the public for refreshments. “When we have patrols out, Commissioner, each patrol must have a cooler in the vehicle with their own water and juice. I don’t want police to ask anybody for water,” he said to loud applause.
Dr Ali urged members of the police force to upgrade their educational status by taking advantage of opportunities to pursue studies right up to master degrees.
In an address that was punctuated by what appeared to be election campaigning, he said “constitutionally I’m looking at two terms” at the end of which he expected the best possible police force “but you have to work with me.” He reminded the officers that the previous A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change alliance, while in government, had “taken away” their annual bonus.
Emphasising that there must be a predictable system through well-performing and honest GPF members, he said if they remain on the job up to 20 years, they would retire at a minimum rank of an inspector. He said retired inspectors, who are degree holders, could get a job anywhere else and still take home the Guyana equivalent of US$1,700 in retirement, National Insurance Scheme and Old Age pensions.
Government’s Department of Public Information outlined a detailed promotional breakdown that spans the lower and middle ranks of the GPF:
- Constables with five to seven years of service, who have not yet been promoted and who have no disciplinary issues, will be elevated to lance corporal and placed at the highest end of that salary scale.
- Current lance corporals will be moved to the highest level of the lance corporal pay scale.
- Constables with eight to 10 years of service will be promoted to corporal and also receive the highest salary within that rank.
- Corporals who have served between eight to ten years will now be placed at the top of the corporal scale.
- Ranks with ten to 13 years of service will be promoted to sergeant, while those between 13 and 15 years will be retained as sergeants, but moved to the highest level of the sergeant scale.
- Any officer with more than 20 years of service, who has not yet reached the rank of inspector, will be automatically adjusted to that rank, receiving the salary of an inspector, so long as their record is clean.
