In wake of reports that the telephone numbers for at least four Police Officers were found in the cellphone that was used by one of the Berbice Bandits who was recently killed by Police, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan today declared that every complaint against the Police must be investigated.

The Public Security Minister told reporters at a briefing this morning that “every complaint, whether it comes from quarters that are more regular, that is written statements about certain Policemen dealing with criminal activity, we investigate and we have caught some Policemen and so we don’t have a perfect Police Force and I would rather suspect that things might be going on”.

Reports surfaced last week that the investigators who have been probing the trail of the three Berbice Bandits that were shot dead by the Police found the numbers of four Police officers in one of the phones that were found at the scene. The phone is suspected to have belonged to one of the bandits.

Mr. Ramjattan said he has not been briefed by the Police Commissioner about the reports, but added that he would not be surprised by such reports since there could be some issues of complicity.

He said he would want a full investigation of the matter.

“In the security sector of almost every country, you would have some complicity some times with rogue elements of law enforcement and criminals. If that is the case here, well I wouldn’t be surprised. I would want further investigations to verify its truthfulness and authenticity and of course to get those who might be involved, criminally prosecuted”, he said.

Last week, the Police Commissioner was questioned about the issue. He said the investigations are ongoing and at such he would not want to divulge information that is being probed.

The Public Security Minister said one has to be “real that these things are going to happen”, since the Police officers are drawn from communities where they still interact with persons from the communities.

“Men and women are not angels and they are going to get involved especially when the profit motive is high and generally this complicity with criminals arises out of a profit motive, about making some extra money other than their salaries”, the Minister said.

The Guyana Police Force has been encouraging persons who may have information about corrupt practices by Police officers to file complaints through the Police Office of Professional Responsibility or through the media, for those who might not want their identities to be known.

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