Retired Williams breaks silence on being sidelined from top cop post

Last Updated on Monday, 21 July 2025, 21:53 by Writer

Retired Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Williams on Sunday said he opted to move from “policing to politics” to make available his leadership skills to the People’s National Congress Reform-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) after the incumbent People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) administration ensured he was not appointed police commissioner.

“The reason why from policing to politics is because after listening to this wicked government continuously telling you people that you don’t have leaders and I was waiting for the opportunity to finish my service and now to step up to show that we have leaders,” the APNU candidate told a public meeting in Melanie Damishana, East Coast Demerara.

“I came from the ghetto…and I’ve done everything that is right, with integrity, with honesty and in keeping with what it requires but they see it fit to set me aside because they know I would not have been one of their candidates for wickedness and corruption,” he told attendees.

Referring to the 2022 report of the Police Complaints Authority, he related that 194 reports were received and were to be investigated. They included four fatal shootings by policemen but recommendations for charges to be laid against them led instead to them settling the matters. He said there were other instances of alleged perversion of the course of justice.

In 2018, Dr Williams was overlooked by then President David Granger for the post of Police Commissioner and instead Mr Leslie James was appointed to the top spot. Mr James was later succeeded by Deputy Police Commissioner Marlon Hoppie who performed the duties of Police Commissioner until March 2022 when he proceeded on pre-retirement leave and was succeeded by Mr Clifton Hicken.

After the incumbent People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) was voted back in office in 2020, he was ordered to proceed on accumulated leave on August 17 after which nothing else was heard about him. He accused the Irfaan Ali-led administration tof taking steps to ensure he was not appointed police commissioner. “In 2020 when this government came into power, on the 17th of August I was sent on leave and I still had four and a half years’ service remaining and they side-stepped me and deprived me of becoming the commissioner of police, what I had sacrificed myself for, what I had gone through all the dedication and qualified myself for and built the competencies for,” he said.

The Retired Deputy Police Commissioner suggested that the government has “destroyed every fabric” of the culture and camaraderie in the police force and “burnt bridges” with retired officers of the Joint Services who could have lent their expertise. “But No! They need those who they can make puppets and those who can go with their bids and continue with the wrong and still you want to see those people serving you? No way! No Way!” he said.

Dr Williams, a former crime chief in the Guyana Police Force, said under the David Granger-led APNU administration crime was reduced during 2016-2020. He said successes included a reduction in breaking and entering and larceny from over 1,200 to 106 and dented piracy. In 2018 four fishing boats were attacked in Guyanese waters and almost 15 fishermen lost their lives. With two of the perpetrators having been sentenced to life imprisonment in 2023, he said “from since then to now, piracy has become zero.” “Big it up for APNU,” he said.

He disagreed with assertions that the PNCR-APNU was dead and had no leader because Mr Norton was refusing to protest. He agreed with Mr Norton’s previous positions that protests could be counterproductive because his supporters could be branded. Dr Williams blamed the police force for deliberately allowing a protest march from Golden Grove to Mon Repos Market in June 2022, knowing fully well that the market would have been a flash point for attacks on vendors. “The police could have stopped you even before you left Golden Grove but they allowed you to come all the way to Mon Repos market because they had a scheme plotted in order to create that situation so that you can look as the ones who are the criminals, the thugs and the thieves,” he said.

He also said police could have worked closely with private security firms to remain throughout the evening of the day when Adrianna Younge’s post-mortem was conducted to deal with unrest that spilled over into looting in parts of the city in April, 2025.