Embattled Assistant Commissioner of Police, Calvin Brutus, has filed a $1.6 Billion lawsuit against the Government over a Diversity Policy that he says exists in the Guyana Police Force and is discriminatory.

In the lawsuit, which names the Attorney General as the respondent, Mr. Brutus details that in the last quarter of 2020, he attended a meeting with President Irfaan Ali, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and other Government and Senior Police Officials, and at that meeting a directive was given by the Vice President that the structure of the Police Force should mirror the ethnic composition of the country’s population.

He said the directive would be reflected in areas such as recruitment, promotions and training, and was described as the “Government Diversity Policy”.

Mr. Brutus in his Court filing, said the policy was immediately discriminatory to members of the Guyana Police Force of African descent, as the Force’s ethnic composition did not mirror that of the Guyanese population. He said it is estimated that 90% of the Police Force’s members are Afro Guyanese.

According to the senior Police Officer, immediately after the introduction of the policy, unqualified officers of the Force were seen ascending to positions and opportunities ahead of other officers, who were more suitably qualified. He said it became clear that the result of the policy was to line up officers of East Indian descent for top positions in the Police Force.

Brutus explains in the case that hundreds of Afro Guyanese Police Officers, who were better candidates for certain roles, were sidelined with preference for Indo Guyanese Officers.

Detailing his own experience, Assistant Commissioner Brutus said in July 2024, he was informed that the Vice President had instructed the Police Commissioner to transfer him to Special Branch and allow Assistant Commissioner Ravindranauth Budram to gain experience in Administration.

At the time, Brutus was heading the Administration department of the Force and he said he is convinced that the decision to have him replaced was based on race. Brutus has said he is a mixture of Amerindian and African descent.

He further detailed in the Court documents that one week after he was transferred, he was informed by the Acting Police Commissioner at the time that instructions had been received from the Cabinet that he proceeds on administrative leave. He said on the advice of the Police Commissioner, he proceeded on annual leave instead. Days before he was set to resume duties, Brutus said he received a letter informing him that he is now on administrative leave. He said he was never given a chance to respond to any allegations before being sent on leave and there was no proper investigation conducted before a decision was taken for him to proceed on leave.

He wants the Court to declare that his rights were breached and the Government acted in breach of the Discrimination Act with its actions. He also wants the Court to declare that the Government Diversity Policy of the Guyana Police Force is discriminatory on the basis of race and is in contravention of the Constitution of Guyana. Brutus is seeking an order of the Court to discontinue the policy.

The Assistant Commissioner, who remains on administrative leave, is currently before the Courts facing more than 200 charges related to allegations of being involved in fraud and other financial crimes. He has repeatedly declared his innocence of the charges. A number of bank accounts linked to him, his wife and toddler son and companies owned by them were frozen by the Court. More than $500 million was discovered in the frozen accounts.

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