SSR IDEAS FOR GUYANA

With the upcoming Guyana elections, there is significant attention on crime and security
with expectations raised by the public and responses from politicians and media commentators.
Crime and security has become a crisis of public confidence. Whomever prevails at the elections
will face a challenge of attaining strategy coherence and coordination in enhancing security
sector reform (SSR) capacities, addressing security system governance concerns, and supporting
local ownership. Addressing this need will require a strong electoral mandate and the backing of
parliament and civic society. Media reports clearly show that security will have to be a top
priority requiring that the security sector can be properly organized and mobilized without
trampling on democracy or civil liberties. Many Guyanese view recent approaches to combating
crime as indecisive and inconsistent and a gap between policy formulation and implementation.
Guyana needs a holistic approach to the entire SSR with an injection of greater
resolve at all levels and a whole-of-government approach that leverages the private sector and
civil society. There has been a fair degree of focus at the strategic level where policy is
formulated. An anticorruption campaign and some attention to ethics in government need to be
added. There has also been significant focus at the tactical level where police officers serve as
front line bureaucrats delivering governance, the process-oriented elements of governing, to
Guyanese society. A simultaneous top-down and bottom-up approach is needed, with a strong
emphasis on meeting in the middle at what is considered the operational level. At this level,
resources are marshalled, national strategy and policy goals are reformulated into more discrete
mission tasks to push to the tactical level. To attain this, Guyana needs to pursue a SSR plan that
seeks better government agency integration, participation and coordination. That happens (gets
operationalized) primarily at the operational level but requires an agency that has national level
leadership.
Brian Chin chinner54@hotmail.com
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Recommendation
1. Form a National Security Agency to focus on the more sophisticated components of
national security and criminality. It is unrealistic to expect the current GPF and the
current security sector organization to coherently and effectively address the full
spectrum of national security threats and criminality that Guyana now faces. Leave the
GPF to focus on the more traditional blue law enforcement responsibilities and to task
out the more sophisticated elements of security to a more focused, resourced and capable
organization and leadership:
2. The Agency should be a non-ministerial, executive level national security organization
headed by a professional security Director. This position could be contracted initially but
should also have a senior civil servant understudy to take the helm at an appropriate time.
3. There should be no direct political oversight i.e. any political interference on the agency
and the Director. The Commonwealth term and structure of a Non-Ministerial
Government Department (NMGD) is appropriate. Accountable to Parliament and the
judiciary with a budget set by parliament.
4. The overall intent is not to start out with a totally new organization but to strive to phase
existing capabilities under a core umbrella professional and competent leadership. The
new is primarily the command and control and the national authorities granted under a
national security Act.
5. Initially based on some elements of a combined joint task force concept that combines
existing security and law enforcement resources to maximize Guyanas limited
sophisticated investigative, technological and intellectual resources. Bring knowledge,
skills and resources under one roof.
6. Director has the power to direct GPF Divisional police commanders to concentrate their
resources where necessary, effectively making him the most senior national security
Brian Chin chinner54@hotmail.com
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official in the country with national level tasking and coordination authority. But the
Director does NOT replace the Commissioner of Police (COP). COP continues to head
the GPF, but GPF is also a force and capabilities provider to the Agency.
7. The Agencys sections are tied to various criminal Acts/Laws and that is the primary link
to Parliament. The foundation for everything the agency does is based on a criminal code
and stature.
8. A matrix organization both in organizational structure and reporting. Example: the unit
that investigates fraud and corruption is under the direct command of the NSA Director
but supports and functionally reports to the Attorney General. Similarly for tax and
customs fraud etc. The intent is greater efficiency and effectiveness by husbanding
technologies and more sophisticated and intellectual capabilities under one roof.
9. Primarily staffed by reallocating existing personnel and organizations under its command.
10. A mission statement focusing on restoring the public trust in the way the government
responds to serious and complex security threats and cases where the potential loss/harm
is high or of significant public interest. So that the GPF can focus on street level crime
with the NSA providing a backstop when that street level crime is rooted in organized and
transnational elements.
11. Have authority to both investigate and prosecute. Personnel should include investigators,
lawyers, law clerks, forensic accountants and liaison officers from other elements of the
states national security institutions such as GPF and GDF. However the agencys
primary focus is not on arrest and conviction but rather on making cases and
administering independent investigations aimed at reducing harm to Guyanese citizens
and institutions.
12. In the overall structure of the state security sector, it is a supported organization. This
means that the commanders of other national organizations are tasked by law to provided
support in the form of personnel, capabilities etc. Some of this support, for example key
Brian Chin chinner54@hotmail.com
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positions are allocated, meaning that it is standardized and fixed. For example the
agencys Intelligence Officer should be seconded from the GPF or GDF. Some should be
apportioned. For example the GDF is tasked to maintain certain capabilities such as
special operations personnel and military airlift support to the Agency for planning and
these are tasked to support Agency operations as required. The same for the GPFs
SWAT team.
13. A Current Ops section focusing on curbing the immediate criminal situation on the street.
Future Ops focusing on the Security Sector Reform and more sophisticated crime such as
organized and transnational crime.
Some specific responsibilities could include
1. Serve as a national law enforcement agency to more efficiently and effectively deliver
security to the nation.
2. Oversee the institutional reform of the GPF: More effective policing, fostering a culture,
policy and processes that is more acceptable and responsive to Guyanese civil society.
3. Implement Guyanas national strategic security strategy.
4. The Director is a special security advisor to the President and national level security
team.
5. Current organizations to fall under the NSA could include the Presidential Guard, CANU,
the GRAs investigative units, FIU, JIC etc.
6. Investigate serious organized and transnational crime, assets recovery, money laundering
etc.
7. Special interest criminal investigations and intelligence analysis.
8. Operational command of the employment of specialist operational skills (e.g. the current
GPF SWAT team) in the resolution of exceptional criminal and national security
incidents. For example, the most important element of the GPF SWAT team is to have an
appropriate decision making capability during a crisis, not its gun fighting, door

Brian Chin chinner54@hotmail.com

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breaching capabilities. Better to have SWAT under the administrative (recruitment,
training and pay etc.) control of the GPF, but under the operational and tactical control
(OPCON/TACON) of the NSA, with a direct link to the president, cabinet and parliament
during any crisis response.
9. Identify, analyze and investigate threats to state security and the monitoring of persons
who pose a threat on both national and international fronts.
10. Provide analytical support at both a regional and national level, in relation to both
operational and strategic policing initiatives. Internally and externally to INTERPOL,
FBI, DEA, CARICOM IMPACTs etc.
11. Investigate and prosecute serious or complex fraud and corruption, human, weapon and
drug trafficking; cyber-crime; and economic crime that goes across regional and
international borders.
12. Oversee protective security of the state and its institutions, presidential, ministerial and
diplomatic protection, and physical security for visiting VIPs.
13. Coordinating the administering issuing, monitoring and renewal of firearms licenses.

Brian Chin chinner54@hotmail.com

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