March 7, 2011
Bribery by Guyana police on rise
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — The chief of an anti-corruption agency says growing complaints from citizens across Guyana indicate that bribe-taking and extortion by national police officers are on the rise.
Cecil Kennard is a retired judge who heads the South American country’s Police Complaints Authority, an independent unit set up by the government a decade ago to probe abuses by officers.
Kennard says that his unit received 200 complaints of alleged corruption last year. He described this as an increase but did not say exactly how it compares with previous years.
Speaking to reporters today, he remarked that bribery “is becoming more and more widespread.”
A police spokesman did not immediately return calls today.