First 27 member SWAT Team complete training; Rohee says SWAT is Brumell’s legacy

By Kurt Campbell

[www.inewsguyana.com] – Twenty Seven ranks from the Guyana Police Force have completed their initial round of training for Guyana’s first ever Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team and graduated today (Wednesday, March 26) where they were presented with certificates of successful completion.

Speaking at the event, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee said it was a very historic event as the country gears itself to experience the effectiveness of a SWAT unit to ensure its citizens live in an atmosphere of peace and order. 

The Minister said the team must be recognized for its role in raising the prestige of local law enforcement to higher levels.

“This is not a foreign force, this is Guyana’s force, every single one of these members I’m sure has a Guyanese birth certificate,” Rohee said.

He added that the challenges which the Force currently face in upholding basic human rights is well known to all, as he expressed his confidence that the SWAT team will be a major contributing factor.

The Home Affairs Minister said the team which was established under the stewardship of outgoing Commissioner Leroy Brumell must be seen as his [Brumell’s] legacy.

Meanwhile, Brumell while addressing the graduating ranks, who were decked, in their grey and black uniformed, said he was satisfied to see the emergence of the first ever SWAT unit and he noted how impressed he was particularly with the training and determination of the ranks.

He charged them to be professional at all times and ‘prepare for hoaxes’.

 

The Force is expected to be better positioned to make specialized interventions, thereby, ensuring law and order is maintained, and prospective threats are neutralized.

The establishment of a SWAT team has received the full support of the leadership of the Guyana Police Force and the current administration. The 27 member team was chosen based on their age, health, mindset, years of service, experience and their overall conduct.

According to Director of The Emergence Group (TEG), which was contracted to design and implement the unit, it is unfortunate to see what he said was the misunderstanding of the purpose of the team by a large number of Guyanese.

He reminded that it was an elite force that will certainly protect the people of Guyana and must be seen as no less.