GSU to Re-brand and Change Course

Kareem Musa

Over the years, the Gang Suppression Unit has gained notoriety for fighting fire with fire and for meeting the civilian populace with brute force.  It’s a brand that has left a bitter taste in the mouths of many who have encountered the GSU in action.  Well the unit is getting a much needed makeover in the weeks ahead and the sprucing up begins with a change in title and mandate.  Home Affairs Minister Kareem Musa in speaking with the media today, touched on the re-branding initiative.

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs & New Growth

“What I can tell you at this very early stage is that there will certainly be, at the very least a re-branding and so we cannot continue as is, with business as is the way that the Gang Suppression Unit has been operating in our country.  They need to be answerable to somebody and in the past it was always said out there that they’re answerable to no one and that cannot, simply cannot be the case.  Whether that is just the perception or that is the reality, the Gang Suppression Unit certainly has been operating in many instances in a very coldhearted, callous nature.  And again, it is the type of approach that we need to change in terms of executing their job.  Yes, it is a very tough job and we are all aware that police officers are working in the highest of stress environments, let us accept that they are front liners and right now they are not just going up against crime, they are going up against COVID.  We have about seventy officers currently suffering with COVID and so we have to realize that these people are on the frontline for us, the civilians.  It is a high stress environment but at the same time it cannot be business as usual that there is the excessive use of force against the citizens of our country.”