Police reforms? Problems that must be faced

by Gamini Gunawardane, Rtd. Snr. DIG

(June 07, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) It was heart warming for us, particularly to the police retirees, to read in the newspapers a few weeks back that Secy. Defence, Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa himself had at the opening ceremony of the Police Academy, Katana, called the police to reform itself, to be more efficient, etc. This was indeed like a few drops of rain on a parched land.
I for one had virtually given up hope of ever reviving the police as I was suffering under a misconception that the government was not interested; hence the delight at this new turn of events.

The purpose of this paper however, is to focus on some fundamental problems the police department is confronted with, but connected with inefficiency and corruption. These fundamental problems, the police department cannot overcome by itself, because they are interdependent.

Credibility problem

The fundamental problem with the police today is that it lacks credibility. People believe that the police are powerless to act on their own as they used to be. They believe that the police will act only if the government would give them the green light, especially in controversial matters. For instance, they do not believe that the Sri Lanka Police can act against a government party politician if he breaks the law or throws his weight, as it happened in Kelaniya electorate few months ago. This was a police service where SI T. V. Sumanasekera (later DIG), OIC Morawaka, in 1963 detected the local MP engaged in illicit gemming. SI Sumansekera arrested and remanded him, charged him in court unhindered. This SLFP MP asked his government to save him and to deal with the Sub-Inspector. The then SLFP government under Sirima B. refused to budge. The MP later crossed over to the LSSP because, Dr Colvin R. de Silva of the LSSP successfully defended him free of charge. Thus, it is no wonder that the people have no trust that the present day police are able to act impartially and courageously, especially against any government party man or their obvious supporters. They say that some cases the police are able to solve but not some others if they are pointing in the ‘wrong’ direction.

Command & control problem

Not only the opposition party people, but even some government party people cannot get the police to act against some of their own party miscreants as was displayed in the recent Parliamentary Elections at Nawalapitiya. Here, the suspected miscreant had the temerity to appear on TV and claim that there were no such incidents and that he had in his hand a copy of the report sent by the local SP to that effect! Now how does a suspected person get into is hand a copy of a police report to their superiors which says that he had no hand in it? Well, that is the state of the police today.

However, the Inspector General transferred the day after the elections, the three OICs of the police station in the areas where the trouble was alleged to have occurred. But he had to eat the humble pie when the next day he had to cancel those transfer orders. These incidents, especially the last, would demonstrate that the IG is not in control of the police department because, he cannot implement his own commands. He issues orders to his provincial officers to remove all elections posters and those giant cutouts, but they continued to remain, regardless. The local police would dare not touch them! Thus, he is left in a pitiable plight, not worth his brass.

The only two brave men, SSPs Jayawardane and Kudahetti who were made in the old mould who dared to carry out IG’s lawful orders during elections had themselves sent on compulsory leave for their trouble. It is a pity that the other OICs Divisions too were not courageous enough to do the same and get themselves sent on compulsory leave to see how the government would have run the elections! The police department has long lost that kind of nerve, which the political authority is exploiting. And that is the level of governance in this country today. The funny thing is all elections monitors reported that the elections, by and large was clean! So much for social responsibility. ‘A country gets the government/ police, it deserves.’ Not that people had a better choice!

Thus the IG is thus reduced to another minion in the department. He is in such a sorry state that he cannot even defend his own men who faithfully tried to carry out his lawful order. He did not offer to resign either, as a man with self respect should do, and to bolster the morale of the rest of the service. He is in fact reduced to the state of an ‘errand boy’ of the government. He is so helpless that he has to be told by Secretary Defence when to pull up his socks. That he cannot exercise his discretion as the head of his organization is borne out from what happened to him in the Nawalapitiya case. In short, he is reduced to the state of a door mat of the government. And this is the current state of an exalted office where its incumbent, in 1949, as IG, used to enjoy a morning horse ride exercise at the Galle Face green, with the head of government!

Accountability problem

The IG is not held accountable for the performance of or the day to-day running of the police department; neither are the officers below him to the IGP. He is seated in the IG’s seat while someone else is running his show; but that somebody does not take responsibility for its failures. Mind you, this is the police service where in 1966 an IGP, a Commissioner of Police Colombo, ASP Colombo South and OICs of Kollupitiya and Cinnamon Gardens police stations had to go home when the bullet from an accidentally fired shot from revolver of a sub-inspector ricocheted killing a young Buddhist monk seated in a verandah of a house far away from the scene. But the sub-inspector from whose revolver the shot was fired was not interdicted! That was the level of accountability that we were used to. No questions asked. If you fail, you take the rap. No excuses were accepted after the event.

In the absence of these conditions, it is no surprise that people know that the police are not held accountable for their actions and that there is no proper supervision. Thus, the police have lost credibility with the people. (In fact no one in this country is any longer held accountable for any thing!)

Political stranglehold

Why does a police department which was built on such sound levels of accountability now behave like a pack of mules? Because it is being held by its neck by the political party in power – which claim to be the representatives of ‘their’ people. This, we call in civilized language, ‘total politicization’, for political science purposes. Thus, at one time, only their supporters if at all could receive ‘justice’ from the police. Here too, the police have to stop short when they are asked to stop. Now, for instance, the police would descend on the underworld when the government gives the green light - often close upon an election, to compel the underworld bosses to seek their assistance. Then they would stop the police, come election time, when the underworld is required for the nefarious activities by the government party politicians. So the underworld and the drug world know how to manipulate the police. The political other side have to wait till their party comes to power, for them to have their ‘justice’. Then the other side has to eat the humble pie. This is what policing is in our country for the last 50 years, in dwindling progression. This is the state of rule of law to which we have descended; so much for the quality of life in this democracy. That is one reason why the party in power does not want to let go and the other side wants to get into power at any cost. The side that loses has it for another six years. This is the game. Now, the police have to bum the winning side six years! In short the police are reduced to a doormat and are made to do menial service for the government including illicit taping of electricity for the UNP government in 2001.

Internal corrosion

This state of affairs has a deleterious effect on the police organization from inside. Instead of the art of investigation or management skills, officers of different ranks find it necessary to develop skills of political bumming as the first priority for their survival. Merit and excellence in knowledge and performance becomes of little importance. This promotes inefficiency. Disciplinary control is subordinated to political backing each officer has cultivated. Thus, indiscipline and corruption takes control; hence, loss of morale. Thus it goes on from one to the other, feeding on each other. It is like a diseased body. In fact, police today could be described as a sick giant whose auto-immune system has gone haywire. His back bone is broken and is today, behaving like a jelly fish.

Reserve Police

President Rajapaksa honoured the undertaking given to the members of the Reserve Police during the 2005 Presidential elections that he would absorb the reservists into the regular force. Thus thousands of reservists were absorbed into the regular force causing several grave organizational problems to the force. The reserve force was created after the ’71 insurgency merely to assist the police till the regular force was expanded. But the outbreak of the Northern insurgency in 1978 made it necessary for it to be continued and expanded. It thus became a necessary evil. Now with the conclusion of the war, this force should have been disbanded. Instead, they were absorbed into the regular force. It was thus wrong policy. It brought in a lot of dead wood, lower performance and additional corruption. Thus it gave rise to further lowering of standards of the police performance as a whole. It is not possible for the police to remedy this problem on its own.

Remedy

1. So if you are really interested in reforming the police, as a preliminary step, release the political stranglehold over the force. This is the first step. Provide a conducive environment of independence for the police to develop as a professional body. The Secy. Defence gave this freedom to the three Services during the war, insulating them from political meddling. And they delivered a handsome victory surprising the whole world. Why not give the same chance to the police? Our police too has the potential of being one of the best police services in the world. The importance of independence for the growth of professionalism is already clear.

Peripheral agencies of the police, such as the Police Hospital, Police Kennels Division, Police Records Division, Police Field Force H.Q., Police College Kalutara and to some extent, the STF, have cultivated professionalism to some extent in their respective fields, mainly because they enjoy some degree of freedom as they have been immune from politicization a great deal because they are outside the reach of the politician. For instance, a Police Kennels Division dog has won an international kennels award in a contest in Europe whilst others regularly win awards at the local kennels shows. Same with most other agencies mentioned earlier. They have developed considerable expertise.

In fact, we the senior most retired police officers have formed into a Retired Chiefs of Police Association which is a member of the OPA with a view to help the serving officers with the necessary professional skills to reform the police if the opportunity arises. Now it seems far in the horizon. In fact, I have presented a design to set up a ‘Professional Institute for Policing’, an independent body under the RCPA, towards achieving this end. However, this project has not got off the ground so far.

2. Give back to the IGP the responsibility of running the police and hold him accountable for the administration and performance of the police. Simple. If he does not deliver within a reasonable time throw him out. Give him back the authority to select his own OIC’s Divisions and OIC Stations. Only then can he be held accountable for the performance of the police. It is common knowledge today that no SP or Inspector in-charge of a police station could be appointed by IG on merit or suitability to a Division or a police station except on the recommendation of the local minister or the MP. Let him, together with his DIGs select the officers whom he wishes to promote to higher rank. Then he is responsible for the delivery of results himself. He must have full disciplinary control. He should be able to decide whom to send on compulsory leave.

3. Permit the IGP to shed the dead wood acquired both from the Reserve police as well as on his own force perhaps with an special early retirement scheme. It will be still be profitable for the police and the people to go with a streamlined police.

4. Permit professionalism to grow in the police organization as done to the three Armed Forces. The first step has been taken already by opening the Police Academy at Katana. Resume sending officers for higher training to Police Staff College, Bram’s-hill, FBI and Police College, Lancashire, Malaysia, Australia and Japan. This will eventually lead to the reduction of corruption and to enhance performance.

5. Create an appellate body to which both the subordinate officers who are aggrieved by the actions of the IG and the people who are aggrieved by police actions could appeal for redress.

6. Bribery Commission is now dead thanks to the obstinacy of the government. Hence, set up an Anti-Corruption Bureau as in Australia, within the police department, to operate under the Penal Code and under the Departmental rules, to tackle police corruption.

The other day, during a discussion on this subject, Mr. Frank de Silva former IGP observed that irrespective of politicization, police have always been afflicted with charges of corruption, inefficiency and discourtesy. My view is that, all these problems are tied up to politicization which affords protection to the miscreants. Thus it creates a conducive environment for these evils to thrive. It is true that even police in other countries too have been accused of varying degrees of corruption, under performance and discourtesy. Here, all that could be done is to keep these at a tolerable level. Once the concept of meritocracy is restored and discipline is tightened by re-enforcing the supervision at the different levels and when morale is raised; this situation could be improved through professionalism and a meaningful performance appraisal system. There are few more things to be done but all that could come later.

Conclusion

Our Police eventually need to become a Janatha Hithakaami Polisiyak - ‘A People Oriented Police’ instead of a ‘Politically oriented Police’. We must provide them the space, time and a conducive environment and also the necessary inputs, to enable to reach this ideal, which is not very far away. And most importantly, please give them back their Self Respect

Aney sir, Eda dawasa (kawadaa) udaawevido?