Policing the Police

The three officials contesting to become the next Inspector General of Police will present themselves before the Constitutional Council today in what could well be the last chance to appoint a progressive person to the top post capable of fixing the many problems that plague the current force.  

Embilipiya is a case in point that severely dented public confidence, at least what little was left. Even though the judicial process is dealing with the situation, there is a strong sense that it should not have happened in the first place. Indeed a professional Police force would not have created such a situation and decades of undermining and politicisation of the force has reinforced the ever-growing need for reform.

Readers will remember many examples including the Dompe youth who died in Police custody and the public outcry that resulted in a standoff between the Police and residents several years ago. They may also remember several other incidents of families with men who were killed in Police custody as was a fisherman in Wadduwa, who was a 42-year-old father of two.

As tensions increase, Police have been accused time and again for failing to protect vulnerable groups, be they minorities, political dissenters or activists. Public perception of the Police, which was never that great to start with, is at an all-time low. The Police are seen as the most corrupt institution in Sri Lanka and public safety continues to be swept under the carpet by officials. Recently they had to be informed that beating students till they bleed is definitely not “minimum force”.

Even though many of these incidents took place under the former Government, there is still need to implement reforms within the Police force, especially in interacting with the public, maintaining professionalism and desisting from custodial torture. The latter has been actively taken up by some factions of the National Government and is among the pledges made before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).   

Police conduct has been a subject of contentious debate and great concern in almost every part of the world including Sri Lanka. Numerous deaths of suspects in the custody of the Police as well as brutal assaults on suspects and offenders have been documented by the media and civil society institutions leading to a public outcry to clean up Police conduct.

Politeness, Obedience, Loyalty, Intelligence, Courtesy and Efficiency are the traits that are believed to define a Policeman – traits that have slowly eroded from sections of the Police force over time, taking along with it the faith, trust and respect placed by the public in its office.

Although it is easy to put the blame squarely on the few Policemen who abuse their powers with such impunity, the public cannot ignore the system in which they operate – the toxic environment that has been created for them in which they have the authority to operate with an extreme and callous disregard for those they are entrusted to protect.

Stronger actions against excessive force and the periodic psychological assessments of Police officers are courses of action long overdue. The allegations of internal cover ups and falsified testimony in cases of custodial deaths must also be addressed as restoring the integrity of the police is as much an internal struggle as it is an external one.

As an overburdened and undermanned legal system delays the process of justice, having given rise to an alternate system in which the Police act as the judge, jury and executioner, the noble force must remember that they are called upon to enforce the law while obeying it. An IGP who understands these challenges and goes beyond the call of duty would make all the difference.