Commissioner Hoppie says he does not duck and hide from the press

Commissioner of Police Nigel Hoppie in an exclusive interview with BIG Smith News Watch on Monday at Wales Magistrate’s Court debunk claims that he is not accessible to the press.

Hoppie who was grilled by this publication about the Guyana Police Force and more particularly his relationship with the press, stated that he is will continue to engage the press whenever it is practical to do so.

Since taking over the helm of the Guyana Police as it’s acting Commissioner of Police, Hoppie has not held a single press conference on any matter relating to the public’s interest. The occasions on which the Commissioner of Police was pressed by the media for comments on issues while at other engagements are very minimal.

BIG Smith News Watch asked Hoppie on Monday if he feels there is a fractured relationship between the media and the police force.

“I don’t want to say that the relationship is fractured. II have a lot of respect for the press and I want to say that we will continue to work together. There may be areas where we want to make improvements and I am always willing to ensure that the improvements are made” Commissioner Hoppie told BIG Smith News Watch

The media has repeatedly sought to get the police commissioner to speak on several issues in the past but to no avail. However, whenever a response is forced out of the Top Cop through the Police Force’s Corporate Communications Unit, the words are very few and often times leave more questions than answers.

Hoppie was asked by this publication is he is comfortable with the existing relationship between his police Force and the Guyanese media.

“My thing is this, relationships could always be improved and I did say at my first ‘Police and You’ that whenever circumstances and time prevail, I am always willing to engage the press. I have seen a notion that I am always trying to duck from the press; that is not true” Top Cop acting Hoppie told BIG Smith News Watch.

“I am always ready and willing to engage the press because I recognise that in this contemporary times, the press plays an integral role in ensuring that the work of law enforcement is made easier” Hoppie continued.

The police are yet to address a two day media blackout which saw the police refusing to release crime reports for two days last month.

Last week, several editors were reassured by the two public relations officers that their concerns would be addressed, among those were the lack of engagement with the press on crime matters, the untimeliness of the release of reports and concerns were raised about social media commentators and other persons who are not media professionals who remain in the Joint Services whatsapp group.

During the media engagement, one such commentator was removed from the group, only to be added back to the group a mere hour after, an indication that the promises from the PR unit might never yield any fruit.