SL: POLICE: RIDDLED WITH CORRUPTION,INDISCIPLINE AND INEFFICIENCY!

SL: The police then and now!
Jayantha Wickremaratne had to take over a Police Department that had sunk to the lowest depths. He had to take over a highly politicised organization riddled with corruption, indiscipline and inefficiency. Prior to his appointment, there had been a series of appointments, including several officers, who had retired or even resigned - some who had even joined election bandwagons anticipating favours. Indeed, some had succeeded. Such was their fortune they even got their backwages.

There was a time when a head of the Police Department brought disrepute to himself and the service by being a guest at a drug dealer’s social event and another disbelieved his own officers to exculpate a notorious political brat. Such acts undoubtedly are some that mark the darkest chapters in the annals of the Sri Lanka Police.

Apparently the new IGP’s leadership is beginning to show results. Immediately after he took office, a detection was made by the Wattegama Police of a Chief Inspector of Police and two others with carcasses of deer shot in the Knuckles Reserve. An OIC of a police station molesting a boy has come to light and several police officers have been arrested for rape. It is hard to believe, considering the latest trends in the department, that such cases did not take place in the recent past.

Apparently these were swept under the carpet. But the fact that today honourable officers have picked up courage to deal with errant colleagues is indeed an encouraging sign.

A self-purification process appears to have begun. Recently, a senior officer was seen making a speech over the electronic media in which he candidly admitted that he felt ashamed to be in the police. This, I believe, is how the majority of policemen feel.

The IGP alone single handedly cannot put things right overnight. He needs the whole hearted co-operation of all his deputies and all other senior officers to identify the rotten eggs and effectively deal with them.

The solid edifice of discipline that the police boasted of was the result of the collective effort of the gazetted ranks and also the inspectorate that was drawn from among the best of the country’s youth. Inspections of stations were carried out meticulously. Inspecting officers who paid serious attention to this never inspected ceremonial parades in casual uniform as is done today. Disciplinary proceedings were expeditiously concluded, court cases were closely monitored by ASPs of the districts; and they themselves attended courts. A resurgence of this collective effort from all senior ranks is a sine qua non for the strengthening of the hand of the IGP. Corruption and indiscipline that bedevil the service are the nightmares that all honourable officers must collectively address for the IGP and the entire service to function with honour and dignity.

There is another welcome development. As much as the general public, the police should be happy that the media has begun to play a positive role. Numerous are the instances where media exposures of police inaction have led to arrests, albeit belatedly, and criminal proceedings instituted.

In recent times politicians, their brats and henchmen have flouted the law with impunity. These cases are seldom or never solved, and are invariably shelved with time. Only the media and sustained public outcry could counter such depraved behaviour, leading to criminal prosecution.

With my experience at first hand, I can vouch for the fact that degeneration of civil society began with the J R Jayewardene regime in the early eighties. The stoning of the houses of Supreme Court judges, the manhandling of the late Prof. Sarathchandra and the brutal assault on trade unionists in the Fort are incidents that easily come to mind.

In all these instances, the media and the public laid the blame on the President and the government. An understanding public and even Opposition politicians did not find fault with the IGP. The President’s guilt was such that he did not call for the explanation or even a report from the Police. Surprisingly, the Supreme Court of the time also remained silent.

It is this unhealthy precedent that was set by the Jayewardene Government that has snowballed exponentially today.

What is wanted today is the urgent setting up of an independent National Police Commission, under the Constitutional Council.

It is sad that the UPFA Govt. of President Mahinda Rajapaksa is dragging its feet over the setting up of the Constitutional Council, leading to setting up of all the other independent national commissions and their effective operations which means winning half the battle against violation of human rights, rampant corruption, waste, nepotism etc.


Edward Gunawardena

COURTESY: www island.lk