Crime Chief and Deputy Commissioner (Law Enforcement) of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), Wendell Blanhum, has disclosed that 15 police ranks were charged with various criminal offences so far for the year 2025, with more than half facing rape charges.
According to Blanhum, the ranks were charged with murder, rape, robbery under arms, robbery with aggravation, causing death by dangerous driving, and trafficking in narcotics.
One rank was charged with murder, eight were charged with rape, two were charged with robbery under arms, one was charged with robbery with aggravation, one was charged with causing death by dangerous driving, and two were charged with trafficking in narcotics.
The figures add to ongoing concerns about misconduct within the Force and come at a time when the GPF’s leadership and the ruling party have been publicly emphasising accountability and a zero-tolerance approach to criminal behaviour by ranks.
Only recently, the Minister of Home Affairs, Oneidge Walrond under whose portfolio the GPF falls, has reiterated a firm zero-tolerance policy for sexual misconduct within the Force, particularly where senior officers are accused of exploiting junior ranks.
The minister recalled that from the day she assumed responsibility for the portfolio, she made it clear that allegations of sexual misconduct involving police officers, especially male officers in senior positions, would be treated with a no-tolerance approach, and that this position has been communicated directly to the Commissioner of Police.
Referring to the Sexual Offences Act, the minister stressed that the law recognises the power imbalance in relationships involving persons in authority and makes clear that in such circumstances, consent cannot properly be claimed.
The minister explained that the Act provides that a woman, particularly a young woman, cannot be said to have consented to a sexual relationship where the other party is in a position of power over her, and that this power dynamic removes the element of consent in the eyes of the law.
