Social commentator GHK Lall has raised serious questions about the credibility and independence of the Guyana Police Force Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) as it investigates allegations involving a senior police official accused of improperly intervening in a roadside police matter now circulating widely on social media.
The Guyana Police Force Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) is the internal body responsible for investigating complaints, misconduct, corruption allegations, and breaches of discipline within the police force. It serves as the force’s main internal accountability mechanism, though questions have sometimes been raised about its independence when probing senior officers or sensitive matters.
Writing in an op-ed published Thursday in Village Voice News, Lall argued that the controversy has exposed longstanding concerns about accountability, hierarchy, and internal oversight within the police force.
The incident at the center of the controversy reportedly involved a junior police corporal who stopped a woman claiming to be a police officer. According to allegations circulating online and referenced by Lall, a senior officer intervened by telephone and ordered the corporal to allow the woman to proceed.
The matter escalated after body camera footage and related recordings began circulating in cyberspace, triggering public scrutiny and prompting an investigation by the OPR.
Lall drew comparisons between Guyana’s OPR and the Internal Affairs Division (IAD) of the New York City Police Department, describing the latter as a feared oversight body capable of “mak[ing] or break[ing] a career.”
“In this country, the Guyana Police Force has its Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), and though I can’t vouch for how it compares to the NYPD’s IAD, it now has a big job involving a big name, namely, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, who made big news,” Lall wrote.
The columnist questioned whether the investigation would produce meaningful consequences or simply become another example of internal protection for senior officials.
“A camera, a call, and a calling off, as alleged, and making the rounds in sprawling cyberspace. How does the OPR stand? What will it do? When will Guyanese hear the outcome? What kind of outcome should be expected?” he asked.
Lall also referenced remarks made by Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken, who reportedly stated that “this intervention is concerning because it appears to have been made without verification and outside the chain of command.”
According to Lall, the controversy highlights deeper structural issues within the police force, particularly the imbalance of power between junior and senior ranks.
“The corporal on duty was scolded, ordered to move on and to allow the female claiming to be a police officer to proceed,” he wrote. “The fallout is a deputy commissioner of police is now under the OPR’s microscope.”
However, Lall expressed concern that the junior rank involved could ultimately face repercussions while senior officials escape accountability.
“Small problem number one: how will this finalize? The DC has the means to take care of himself. I am concerned about the lowly corporal. Would he be hauled over the coals for not turning off his bodycam?” he questioned.
The columnist pointed to previous incidents within the Guyana Police Force where ranks were allegedly transferred after controversial encounters, suggesting a pattern of punitive internal responses.
“Remember how a handshake got a police rank dispatched to the remote interior overnight,” Lall stated, referencing past public controversies involving police transfers.
The op-ed also questioned whether the OPR possesses the institutional independence necessary to investigate a senior official effectively.
“The alleged intervener is not a deputy inspector, but a deputy commissioner,” he wrote. “For want of a better analogy, can a minister in any government probe a prime minister?”
Lall further argued that public skepticism toward the investigation is rooted in broader concerns about the reputation and professionalism of the police force itself.
“But Guyana is not a normal place, nor is the GPF held in normal esteem, i.e., as a respected professional organisation,” he stated.
The controversy has reignited longstanding public debate over accountability mechanisms within the police force, particularly whether internal investigations can credibly handle allegations involving senior officers.
Calls for independent police oversight have surfaced repeatedly in Guyana over the years, especially following allegations of abuse, political interference, corruption, and controversial police conduct.
Against that backdrop, Lall used his commentary to advocate for the establishment of a civilian review body independent of the police command structure.
“It’s time that the Guyana Police Force be overseen by a group outside its command structure,” he wrote. “A Civilian Review Board would inspire heaps of confidence in the matter of the deputy commissioner, the corporal, the camera, and the calling off.”
Lall argued that external oversight is necessary not only for the current controversy but for what he described as a wider “calling and calling off culture” that extends “from roadside to inside stationhouses.”
The investigation is now being closely watched for indications of whether the Guyana Police Force is prepared to subject senior officers to the same level of scrutiny routinely faced by junior ranks. Public attention is also centered on whether the findings of the OPR probe will be made public and whether the matter will result in genuine accountability or simply reinforce longstanding perceptions of selective enforcement and institutional protection within the force.
