Dr. Todd demands overhaul of Police Force

(Kaieteur News) – Citing a growing trail of unexplained fatalities and institutional failures, prominent attorney and APNU MP, Dr. Dexter Todd has called for a complete reformation of the Guyana Police Force and its top command. In a message broadcast to citizens at home and across the diaspora, Todd declared that the police force has become a reflection of its executive leadership, where official delays and persistent cover-ups continue to undermine public confidence.

On a Facebook recording, Todd commended front-line ranks who continue to serve under severe operational constraints, noting that many work long hours for low pay in stations equipped with non-functional vehicles. However, he emphasised that systemic shortcomings cannot be blamed solely on junior ranks. “When the service falls short year after year, we cannot keep asking only what is wrong with those officers,” Todd said. “We have to ask what is wrong with the leadership. A police force is a mirror. It reflects the people leading it. When leaders demand discipline and respect, that is what you will see on the street. When leaders delay, cover up, and explain things away, you see that too.”

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Todd highlighted a series of tragic cases involving youth deaths to argue that the issue spans far beyond individual misconduct. He pointed to eleven-year-old Adriana Young, whose family continues to await official answers, as well as two young men killed by police in Linden. He further raised the deaths of a 16-year-old boy following a police pursuit on the Corentyne, and Joaquin Scipio, a teenager from Sophia who was shot through his gate while inside his home. “Different villages, different families, but the same question every time: Who is accountable?” Todd stated. “When the same thing keeps happening, that is not a few bad apples. That is a system, and leaders are responsible for the system.”