Rough Justice: Political Policing and Colonial Self-Rule in Guyana

• Author: Joan R. Mars
• Pages: 265-283

265

ROUGH JUSTICE

INTRODUCTION

Understanding the enduring consequences

of colonialism in the shaping of every aspect

of Caribbean society, including the state’s

coercive apparatus, is arguably the most

important factor in explaining police

behaviour in the region. In this regard, the

pervasive role of politics in the policing of

plantation societies, differentiated along

both class and racial lines, is of special

significance in explaining not only the

tactical decisions made by police in the daily

performance of their duties, but also the

enduring characteristics of police culture and

behaviour that continue to generate

recurring crises in police-community

relations.2 The political and social turmoil

that prevailed during the efforts of British

colonial authorities to ‘decolonise’ its

dependency known as British Guiana

provides a unique example of political

policing in the region, that remains largely

unexplored. Although some attention has

been paid to the involvement of the police

in containing racial and industrial conflicts

(Campbell 1987, Danns 1982), the

techniques used by the metropolitan power

in the crafting of a political police for the

maintenance of control during the period

of colonial self-rule (1953–66) have not been

investigated.

The governance of British Guiana during

this period reflected a fundamental

disjuncture between local attempts at

nation-building and the perceived interests

Rough Justice:

Political

Policing and

Colonial Self-

Rule in Guyana1

Joan R. Mars

Twelve

266

CRIME, DELINQUENCY AND JUSTICE

of the British colonial authorities. Despite the primary responsibility of the police

to maintain public safety, public disorder was intentionally allowed to escalate

into inter-ethnic violence, murder and arson, thereby providing a unique example

of political policing in the region. This paper analyses police history to discuss

the crafting of a political police force in British Guiana. The significance of the

political policing of public disorder, and the role of the police in the production

of the events that occurred during this period of colonial self-rule (1953-66) is

discussed, as well as the lasting effects of politics on police behaviour and police-

community relations in Guyana.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Many attempts have been made to describe the role of politics in policing

ranging from the assertion that ‘all policing is political’ (Huggins 1998, 9, Turk

1982, 115); to the recognition that politics can play a calculated role in the creation

and operations of police forces (Bayley 1971, 1977, Chevigny 1995). A distinction

should, however, be made between the recognition of the inherently political

character of the policing function to the extent that it helps to fulfil the

requirements of the social contract in the Kantian sense, and the capability of the

police to be used overtly or covertly for expressly political purposes.

In the first instance, the recognition of an inherently political function for

the police lies in the expectation that it would play a role in fulfilling the state’s

duty to maintain a well-ordered society. In this context, the police enable the

state to protect its citizens from acts of injustice, to keep the people’s peace and

along with civil society, ‘to be a “cooperative association for the prevention of

crime”’ (Alderson 1998, 28). The covert or overt use of the police for expressly

political purposes, on the other hand, involves harnessing the coercive capacities

of the state primarily for the furtherance of statist goals. Such goals may include

the suppression of political dissent, protecting and promoting the interests of the

dominant classes, and keeping ‘dangerous’ individuals, groups and classes in their

place.

Among the array of countries that currently engage in covert political policing

from time to time are the United States, Britain3 and Canada which provide some

colourful examples (Chevigny 1995, Enloe 1980, Turk 1982). In these cases,

political policing is conducted under the guise of traditional law enforcement

functions in order to deal with perceived or actual threats to the hegemony of

the dominant social order. These threats may take the form of individuals, classes

or groups that disturb or challenge the status quo, and can range from an innocent

influx of immigrants (Brown and Warner 1995), to civil rights activists involved

in legitimate protest activities, or suspected terrorists and insurgents (Chevigny

1995, Enloe 1980, Turk 1982).

Police forces that are wholly or partially designed and employed for overt

political purposes proliferate in Latin America and the English-speaking Caribbean