Traffic ranks among 20 made to pull off their tints

Over the past week, Kaieteur News learnt that several police officers which included traffic ranks, were forced to strip their vehicles of tint.

On December 3, a police corporal attached to the central Immigration and Passport office was forced to strip off all the tint from his grey Toyota Premio motorcar in the presence of the Region Three commander.

A video of the process was recorded which a gained a lot of attention after it was posted on Facebook. The immigration officer was seen striping tint from all four windows.
Speaking with Kaieteur News, the Commander of the division, Errol Watts, said that he was not the first. In fact, Watts said, the number of officers forced to pull off their tints is around 20. Among them are traffic ranks. “Sergeants, corporals and constables were in the mix as well”, said the commander.

When asked whether any charges were laid, he said that this initial action of stripping of the tints will serve as an official warning. Should they fail to adhere, continued the commander, then they will have to be disciplined.
Not so long ago during the launching of Road Safety Week, Watts told his ranks that they must lead by example.

For some years now the Guyana Police Force has been in a battle against the use of tints on vehicles. Numerous campaigns were held over the years across the country. Many drivers were charged, fined and forced to take off their tints.
However, the problem with tints continues. Kaieteur News featured an article in April of 2019 titled “Police Gets tough on tints”; In that article one driver had said that he and the officers were “good” since he gives them a little raise to keep them off his back.

This has been the stories of countless drivers across the country. Some have also chosen to be stubborn because officers too were breaking the law by owning heavily tinted cars.
Watts is attempting to break this cycle in Region Three with his motto “We are the example.”
“We are not above the laws of Guyana and we have to set the correct example in order to win back the trust and confidence from the public. This is very necessary for us to win the battle against crime and traffic lawlessness on our roads daily”, he said.
His advice to his fellow ranks is to lead from the front so that when civilians see them they would respect and listen to them.